Who’s really paying to fix the sewage crisis?
Read the coverage of this story in The Express
At Save Windermere, we don’t often wade into the national debate on sewage pollution. Our mission is clear: to end sewage pollution in Windermere. But when Environment Secretary Steve Reed visited recently and declared that the government shares our ambition of a sewage-free Windermere, we began watching closely to ensure those words weren’t just more rhetoric – and that this government is genuinely committed to cleaning up our lakes, rivers and seas.
One statement from DEFRA keeps cropping up: that the government has secured £100 billion of private investment to reduce sewage pollution over the next five years. It’s a bold claim, and one that doesn’t quite add up.
Experts like Professor David Hall have shown that since privatisation 35 years ago, essentially none of the investment by the water companies has been financed by shareholders' own capital. Instead, improvements have been funded almost entirely from your bills.
We became intrigued as to how the government had supposedly secured this investment, so we asked both DEFRA and OFWAT a very simple question under the Freedom of Information Act:
“Please can you provide evidence that this [£100 billion] investment is from private sources and not being funded through increases to customer bills?”
We received two very interesting responses.
DEFRA surprised us. Despite being the government department that has repeatedly stated, both in the press and on social media, that this is definitively private investment, they said they couldn’t provide the information because they don’t hold it.
OFWAT, the financial regulator, was more direct. They answered our question in a simple statement:
“These cost allowances [£100 billion] are recovered from customers.”
In other words, the £100 billion isn’t private investment at all. It’s coming from you, the customer.
This comes on the back of United Utilities PLC latest yearly results, which show its underlying profits climbed by 48.8% to £338.3m with reported profits more than doubling from £126.9 million to £264.7 million, reflecting a 10% increase in turnover to £2.15 billion.
So, we must ask: Is DEFRA using smoke and mirrors to calm public outrage in places like Windermere? Is the government shielding a predatory industry that profits from the pollution of England’s largest lake? Can we trust the government to deliver on its promises, or is it just more rhetoric?
It’s time to ramp up the pressure on this government like never before, to turn promises into action and rhetoric into real protection for Windermere.
What’s clear is this: the money being spent isn’t coming from private investors—it’s coming from you. Not only are you paying to clean up the mess, but as Professor David Hall has shown, around 35% of your water bill goes towards shareholder dividends across the industry. If you're a United Utilities customer, it’s 29%. These are profits for which those shareholders have neither risked nor contributed anything.
Privatisation has failed. The government needs to accept this, and stop protecting a sinking industry. Our demand is very simple: pass legislation that makes it illegal for water companies to discharge any sewage into Windermere. Enough is enough.
