Andy Burnham is facing growing pressure to swiftly nationalise Thames Water when he takes office on Monday. The Prime Minister-in-waiting has spoken of wanting to see “greater public control” of water and energy companies and suggested he favoured direct public ownership of debt-laden Thames Water.
MP Calls for Nationalisation After Supply Failures
Ealing Central and Acton Labour MP Rupa Huq urged Mr Burnham to press ahead with this move after more supply problems for homes in London. She posted on X on Saturday: “Hey @thameswater last week it was W3, W4 and W12 residents up the spout. Today you are punishing W5, W13 and W7 and leaving us with no running water. You’re a disgrace and the sooner @andyburnham nationalises you the better.”
However, nationalising scandal-hit Thames Water could cost the taxpayer billions of pounds. The quandary highlights the series of challenges facing Mr Burnham of turning his highly ambitious rhetoric and pledges, which have delighted Labour MPs and party activists, into reality.
Labour Deputy Leader Stops Short of Pledge
Labour Deputy Leader Lucy Powell, MP for Manchester Central and a close ally of Mr Burnham, stopped short of pledging that Thames Water would be nationalised. Asked directly on Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips if a Burnham Government would nationalise Thames Water, she said: “Well, look, let's see. This has been an ongoing issue and concern in Government. The Government has powers to bring a distressed water company under special measures, and let's see if the Government needs to, want to use those powers.”
Powell added: “The privatisation of water hasn't worked. It's not created competition.” She stressed bills had gone “up and up”, water companies had raked in profits, and the taxpayer now could be left to pick up the bill for failure.
Thames Water Restores Supply After Outage
In a message to households affected by no water or low pressure problems in W5, W7 and W13, the Mountfield Road area, Ealing, west London, Thames Water said on Sunday morning: “We’re pleased to let you know that the repair to the damaged water main has been completed and your water supply has been fully restored. We're sorry for the disruption this has caused and would like to thank you for your patience as we fixed things.”
Thames Water, Britain’s biggest water company, has around 16 million customers across London and the South East. Bosses at the firm have called for urgent clarity from Mr Burnham over his plans for the sector as they insisted the stricken utility could run out of cash within months unless a funding deal is struck. There are reports that the company could be put into a special administration regime to keep supplies flowing while a buyer is sought.
Executive Pay and Bonuses Spark Fury
Just days ago, in a move which will fuel customers’ anger, it emerged that Thames Water, which has ramped up bills by around 40%, dished out more than £4 million in bonuses and boosted its chief executive pay to £1.2 million. The company, which has been left on the brink of nationalisation as it struggles under a £20 billion debt pile, revealed in its annual report that bonuses of £4.09 million were paid to “key management personnel” as part of its so-called management retention plan.
The report also showed chief executive Chris Weston’s total pay rose to £1.16 million in the year to March 31, up from £1.04 million in the previous year, after he picked up a £99,000 retention payment deferred from a previous year. His basic pay was also hiked by 14% from April 1 this year to £995,000.
Government Condemns Bonuses and Pay Hikes
Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said: “It’s outrageous that one of the worst-performing water companies is handing out bonuses and inflation-busting pay rises to its executives. It flies in the face of basic fairness, and the British public are right to be furious. We’ve banned bonuses for polluting water bosses and will be taking action to prevent bonuses by any other name.”
Last year’s Water (Special Measures) Act allowed regulator Ofwat to ban performance-related bonuses for bosses at utilities failing customers and the environment as part of the Government’s wider response to cracking down on the ailing sector. Mr Weston said his £99,000 retention bonus was awarded before the Water (Special Measures) Act came into effect in June last year and the group confirmed he did not receive a performance-related payout for 2025-26.
Thames Water met only 55% of its regulated targets in the year to March 31, up from 38% in the previous year. Customer complaints over billing doubled year on year following tariff hikes, with overall complaints, including those over its operations, up 77%.
