A new government-commissioned report into the water industry is good (in parts) at identifying glaring problems. But its proposals go nowhere near what is needed, and risk fragmenting the industry even further…
13 August 2025
The water industry is a mess. A report commissioned by the government on regulating the industry doesn’t provide any answers.
Water company shareholders in England and Wales have taken more than £85.2 billion since privatisation in 1989. The water companies’ total debt is £65 billion.
In the last issue we looked at the background to how regulation operates. Here, we examine not just whether Britain is being held back by too much regulation, but also whether capitalist monopolies can ever be regulated.
Thames Water continues to be a burden on its customers and the public purse. Its latest financial plan agreed in the High Court is just the most recent step in a catalogue of failure.
25 February 2025
Thames Water continues to be a burden on its customers and the public purse. Its latest financial plan agreed in the High Court drew criticism from water campaigners and trade unions.
The ongoing failure of regulation in the water industry poses a fundamental question about the governance and accountability of industries and utilities in Britain: how, and in whose interest, are they regulated?
The water industry is in crisis, like the rest of capitalism. Water quality targets are missed, companies are heavily in debt, infrastructure needs investment. But profits and dividends are up...
On 3 November, over 15,000 protesters gathered in central London for the National March for Clean Water. There were simultaneous demonstrations in Glasgow and Belfast.
19 December 2024
Water bills will rise by more than one-third over the next five years, much of it in 2025. The regulator, Ofwat, previously said that that the price rises would far less. Unions and campaign groups have condemned the move.
The Labour government’s new water bill is a fraud. It will do nothing about the debt that continues to hamstring the industry. And nothing, either, about the blatant failure to maintain minimum environmental standards…
15 April 2024
Britain’s largest privatised water company is in financial trouble, as are others. This threatens the supply and safety of our water. It need not be that way.
23 February 2024
Privatised water companies continue to pollute. Regulation of the heavily indebted industry is failing to change this.
13 November 2023
Scottish Water workers are striking against regrading and lower pay. Yet the publicly-owned company makes large payments to executives and like others in the industry presides over increased sewage pollution.
13 November 2023
Water companies continue to pump raw sewage into rivers and the sea despite strong campaigning. A new report reveals the extent of pollution by Thames Water.
Britain’s regulators are supposed to provide safeguards for the public. Their record is woeful…
8 March 2023
This excellent documentary focuses on the state of the rivers of England and Wales and the neglect of a key aspect of our national infrastructure.
Clean water and effective waste disposal are essential for a civilised society. Yet regulation is lax, and water companies regularly dump sewage into watercourses…
7 January 2023
After growing pressure from campaigners and the public, England’s biggest water company has created what it calls a “near real-time” interactive map – showing the scale of its sewage dumping.
17 July 2022
Sewage pollution of rivers and canals has become a serious public health concern. It's so bad that the Environment Agency wants to jail offending water company CEOs.
A database published by the government in October revealed that raw sewage poured into east London rivers for thousands of hours in 2020.
The latest in a series of reports from Greenwich University lays bare the way water companies have been enriching shareholders and directors – at the expense of consumers…
If capitalism could charge for the air we breathe, we’d be paying through the nose for it. And why not? They’ve already managed it with water…
30 July 2019
With hosepipe bans and water restrictions being imposed once again, calls for nationalisation of water are growing.
30 July 2019
Forced to exclude water from its “concessions" Directive, the Commission is set to announce a review this autumn of the effect of excluding water from the internal market.
16 September 2016
Residents of some of Britain’s drier areas have been waking up to find water meters being installed outside their front gates.
17 June 2016
The European Commission has said that Ireland may face daily disciplinary fines if the Irish government continues to suspend water charges.
