Newly elected Cornwall Lib Dem MP Andrew George is calling for Labour government Ministers to stop water companies from implementing another large water bill price hike.
Mr George says South West Water’s parent company, Pennon, saw its share value jump by 6% on the news. Bills across the country are set to rise by an average £94 over the next five years.
This is despite water company failure to invest the benefit of their monopoly supplier status on curbing pollution and protecting sustainability of safe water supplies, says the MP.
During the general election, the Liberal Democrats called for Ofwat to be abolished and a new water regulator established with greater powers.
The Liberal Democrats are demanding Ofwat use the existing powers they have to crackdown on large water bill rises. The party is also calling on the government to implement a ban on water company executive bonuses until discharges and leaks end.
Andrew George MP said: “SWW has become a risk-free, ethics-free, money-printing emporium, which has largely ignored its responsibilities to its customers and the environment, which it views as entirely secondary to providing eye-watering share and top exec payouts.
“The timing is awful. New ministers must intervene to block these insulting price hikes.
“It is a national scandal that these disgraced firms are demanding more money from families and pensioners in a cost-of-living crisis, all whilst they’ve increased raw sewage discharges.
“After years of Conservative Ministers letting these shameful polluters get away with it, we now need tough action, starting with a ban on bonuses and a block on large bill hikes.
“Communities spoke loudly at the election, demanding an end to the sewage scandal and water firms stuffing their pockets with bonuses and dividends. The government and regulator must now listen and act.”
Giles Bristow, chief executive of Surfers Against Sewage, said: "The general election campaign made clear that the public is fed up with those in power turning a blind eye to the sewage scandal.
"Unfortunately today’s announcement, in which Ofwat accepts that we will all have to swim and surf in sewage way beyond 2030, does nothing to change that.
"Signing off on the continuation of at least 200,000 sewage discharges a year is simply unacceptable and a sign that the regulator still doesn’t comprehend the scale of public fury on this issue."
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