Water company bonuses rise this year despite the sewer scandal

EMBARGO: 10:30 p.m. Sunday, October 20

• Shocking research finds water company executives paid more in bonuses and pensions this year
• Water companies in England and Wales hand out £9.1m in bonuses to executives this year
• Thames Water, Severn Trent and South West Water worst offenders to pay executives even more in bonuses this year
• The Liberal Democrats are calling for an immediate ban on water company bonuses

Shocking new research from the Liberal Democrats has revealed that water company executives’ bonuses have risen to £9.1m in 2023/24.

The bosses of the discredited companies received more than £20m in total, including basic pay, pension contributions and bonuses.

The party’s annual monitoring of sewerage bonuses, using Company House’s analysis of records, found that water companies including Thames Water, Severn Trent and South West Water increased their bonus pool for executives, despite polluting waterways with dirty sewage.

The new findings come despite 2023 being a record year for the amount of sewage dumped into waterways, with Environment Agency data revealing that more than 3.6 million hours of ‘wastewater flowed into rivers and seas, an increase of 105% annually.

Thames Water’s bonus payments to executives almost double year-on-year, from £746,000 in 2022/23 to a staggering £1.3m in 2023/24. This is despite Thames Water’s chief executive stepping down in the middle of the year following financial problems.

The biggest bonus payout for executives was from Severn Trent, which paid its 3 executives £3.3m in bonuses, a year-on-year increase.

Pension contributions for water company executives rose to a new high of £1.7m this year. Last year alone, Thames Water paid its executives £754,000 in pension contributions.

Basic pay for water company executives also remained at more than £9m last year, with just one executive at Northumbrian Water being paid £421,000.

The Liberal Democrats have called for an immediate ban on all water company bonuses while the sewage scandal continues. The party will push for a parliamentary vote for a total ban on bonuses by tabling an amendment to the government’s Water (Special Measures) Bill.

Liberal Democrat Environment spokesman Tim Farron said:

“It’s a national scandal that these bonuses are being paid by companies that disgustingly pollute rivers, lakes and beaches. These executives are pocketing more each year as sewage levels rise. Frankly, it all stinks.

“The last Tory government shamefully let these disgraced companies get away with it, and now the new government needs to step up.

“These bonuses are an insult to the British public and must be banned immediately. The Lib Dems will call for a vote in Parliament to ban these bonuses as long as sewage continues to flow.”

IT’S OVER