'Southern Water needs to be held to account for its failings'

With a General Election less than a week away, one topic that has not been getting anything like enough attention is bringing utilities back into public ownership – something that commands massive public support, including here in Brighton and Hove, writes Green councillor Steve Davis.

And with our coastline contaminated with sewage releases, a sewer network in the city cannot cope and our streets are flooded, Greens are determined to reflect what people want and put this on the political agenda.

When Thatcher sold off our utilities in the 1980s, something not in her manifesto, it saw over £60 billion of state assets being sold off at 22 per cent of the market value, vulture capitalism at its finest, right? Not only were we served a raw deal, over time we’ve seen investors and water company bosses benefiting from bonuses rather than profits being invested into the vital infrastructure we rely on for our drinking water and sanitation.

The problems are particularly acute up in Patcham, where Southern Water appear to be downplaying the 279 flooding incidents residents have suffered over a three-year period, problems which have left children wading through sewage on their way to school. In one recent response that former MP Caroline Lucas received in May, Patcham High School is even blamed for the issues, and Southern Water seems to suggest its flood prevention work consists of simply “collaborating” with the school “to educate them on what to flush down the toilets and drains.”

Patcham residents are rightly sceptical of anything Southern Water says and with good reason. How can any of us be confident that Southern Water is being open and honest when it has a proven track record for the opposite.

In 2008 Southern Water was fined £20.3 million for offences, including being found to have deliberately and “systematically manipulated information to conceal its true performance”.

In July 2021, Southern Water was fined £90 million after being prosecuted for deliberately pumping raw sewage into the sea. Yet its chief executive still took home a bonus of more than £500,000. When issuing the huge fine the judge noted that even that level of sanction didn’t match the level of criminality associated with persistent pollution of the environment over very many years. At the time, Southern Water had 168 convictions and cautions – and it certainly hasn’t cleaned up its act since.

It and other water companies have frequently been taken to court and found guilty – the threat of legal action has not worked as a deterrent. So I’m not convinced that Labour’s plans to put the water companies under “special measures” with automatic fines and criminal charges for bosses who are repeat offenders will deliver anything like the real change that’s needed.

Southern Water’s own solution is to propose increasing customer bills by 91 per cent to pay for the infrastructure improvements needed. Yes, we’re to foot the bill for its failure to invest in infrastructure over the last few decades while shareholders received considerable dividends and top bosses were given annual bonuses worth nearly double the average house price.

Greens are clear this is just more evidence that privatisation of our water companies has been an abject failure. Any plan based on improving regulation and stopping bosses’ bonuses will just see everyone from Patcham schoolchildren to water bill payers and the city’s sea swimmers let down all over again. Water companies should not be run for profit, full stop. The growing list of fines and court decisions confirming “criminality” should be more than enough evidence to confirm that the water companies are not acting in our best interests.

Locally, the council has public health responsibilities, in addition to responsibilities of its own to tackle some aspects of flooding in the city. Southern Water needs to be held to account for its failings – and the local council needs to engage and listen to residents in the areas most severely affected by flooding in the city as a starting point. Greens at the council will support residents on this.

Nationally, it’s looking almost certain that we will wake up to a Labour Government on the July 5. With Labour not committing to doing the bloody obvious and taking water companies back into public hands we also need to make sure that there are voices in Westminster to push Labour to be braver and to be bolder – including to send a clear message that time is up for water companies siphoning off huge profits while neglecting to invest in vital infrastructure. A Labour super majority lacking any opposition from MPs who believe that water companies should be in public hands should ring alarm bells – and I hope that residents in the city recognise the value that powerful voice Greens in Westminster can bring when they cast their votes next week.

Steve Davis is leader of the Greens on Brighton and Hove City Council