Twenty-seven Labour MPs representing constituencies served by Thames Water have demanded the company claw back £2.5m in bonuses paid to executives in April. In a letter to the utility's director of corporate finance, Fred Maroudas, the MPs called the bonuses 'disgusting' and urged the company to scrap its next planned round of bonuses in September, reinvesting the money into water infrastructure.
The MPs, coordinated by Yuan Yang, MP for Earley and Woodley, also demanded that Thames Water resolve the most severe cases of pollution and failure highlighted by their constituents, drop a request to regulator Ofwat for leniency over sewage fines, and commit to meeting MPs by the end of the year. Yang, along with MPs Will Stone and Peter Lamb, presented the letter at a meeting in Reading on Friday, where the company agreed to a 'scrutiny meeting' in September.
A Thames Water spokesperson described the meeting as 'very constructive,' stating that no executive directors received performance-related pay this year. The spokesperson said a management retention programme (MRP) was established to retain senior management during recapitalisation but has been paused, with no payments funded by customers. The chief executive is not part of the MRP and received no payments.
Thames Water, which supplies 16 million customers in London and the South East, is struggling to stabilise its finances and avoid temporary nationalisation. It posted annual losses of £1.65bn for the year to March, with debt reaching £16.8bn. In May, it received a record £122.7m fine from Ofwat for breaching rules on sewage spills and shareholder payouts.
Yuan Yang noted that over 140 constituents had complained of unresolved leaks, water problems, and spiralling bills, which have risen from £488 to £639 a year. Calvin Bailey, MP for Leyton and Wanstead, highlighted repeated sewage overflows near homes and a nursery, as well as concerns about river pollution. The Guardian revealed in July that Thames had paid £2.46m in bonuses to 21 managers on 30 April and was refusing to claw them back.
Ministers have banned six water companies, including Thames Water, from awarding bonuses for this financial year after seven major pollution incidents, though the ban only applies to the most senior roles. Chief executive Chris Weston voluntarily declined his 300% bonus this year. He told MPs last month that the company is 'extremely stressed' and that a turnaround would take five to ten years.
