Southwark Liberal Democrats call for stronger regulator in light of Thames Water financial concerns

Recent reports revealed the troubled company made profits of £246m whilst debt rose 7% to £14.7bn in the first half of the financial year.

Thames Water, which is currently operating with two interim CEOs following the abrupt departure of Sarah Bentley in June, has said it will “take time” to revive the business.

Earlier this year, the Southwark Liberal Democrats revealed that Southwark Council has fined Thames Water over 600 times for overrunning projects in the past 5 years, totaling over £1.5 Million.

Commenting, deputy leader of the Southwark Liberal Democrats Cllr Rachel Bentley said:

“Thames Water is the largest water company in the UK yet seems to be a law unto itself, acting with impunity and accepting fines as a cost of business. Years of unacceptable conduct and the damning financial situation they now find themselves show that the current system of regulation lacks any real teeth and is unable to hold these companies to account.

The situation facing Thames Water is evidence of the total failure of the Conservative government to crack down on water companies that have done nothing but oversee the slow collapse of our vital infrastructure and pour sewage into our rivers and waterways. Only the Liberal Democrats have a plan to hold these companies fully accountable. ”