For far too long, water companies have let the public down. 

It is my fundamental belief that it should not be the case that people are expected to pay the price while water bosses pocket large bonuses. In my view, the polluter should pay, not the public. 

You may have seen that our newly appointed Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – Steve Reed, has been in extensive talks with the water companies. He has been extremely clear that the proposed increases to water bills are the unacceptable result of years of failure. 

Far too much money has been spent on bonuses, while not enough was spent on actually fixing our broken sewage system. Labour are clear that we will never let this happen again. 

Following talks, Water bosses have agreed to sign up to Labours initial package of reforms: 

1. Funding for vital infrastructure investment will be ring fenced – so it can only be spent on upgrades benefiting customers and the environment.  
2. If money earmarked for investment is not spent, companies will refund it to customers. It won’t be diverted to bonus or dividends.
3. Water companies will change their constitutions to place customers and the environment at the heart of their objectives. 
4. For the first time in history, powerful customer panels will have the power to summon board members so they can hold water company bosses to account. 

These are our first steps in our plan to reform the water sector. 

We should also all have access to clean water. People are rightly upset at the frequency of sewage discharges and the damage it does to our most valued, delicate river habitats. I believe it is shameful that under the last Tory Government, insufficient action was taken to tighten regulation to stop water companies using discharges as a day-to-day measure when they were introduced for only the most extreme circumstances. 

The Conservatives turned a blind eye and weakened rather than strengthened regulation, with serious damage being done to our countryside, our tourism industry, and people’s health. Labour will put failing water companies under special measures to clean up our water. We will give regulators new powers to block the payment of bonuses to executives who pollute our waterways and bring criminal charges against persistent law breakers. We will impose automatic and severe fines for wrongdoing and ensure independent monitoring of every outlet.