On 21 July, the Independent Water Commission delivered 88 recommendations for ‘a fundamental reset’ of the water sector following its first major review since privatisation. During the 2024 general election, SERA ran a powerful campaign on water pollution, Stop the Sh!t Show, spearheaded by our President Feargal Sharkey. The campaign resonated with voters across the country outraged by years of Conservative neglect overseeing record pollution of our waterways, spiralling consumer costs, infrastructure underinvestment and huge payouts to water company shareholders. Labour in government is clearly committed to fixing this mess, but it will take decisive change to regain the confidence of local communities.
SERA’s position on water reform
- SERA welcomes the Commission’s bold reforms and swift Government response
The Commission’s Report sets out bold reforms to address the massive system failure and is an important turning point. We welcome many of the recommendations and commend Environment Secretary Steve Reed’s swift action in response to them. Clearly committed to delivering change, Reed’s adoption of key reforms is welcome, including a single, powerful regulator responsible for the entire water sector, a new statutory ombudsman to protect customers; the end of operator self-monitoring to support transparency; and devolved planning powers to nine regional water authorities. These are solid foundations towards cleaning up our waterways and rebuilding public trust. Reed plans to further review the Commission’s recommendations and incorporate further reforms in a new Water Reform Bill.
- SERA questions whether a privatised system can be fixed
SERA President Feargal Sharkey’s much shared responses to the Commission’s Report were right on privatisation: the current model is broken and privatisation has not delivered. The question remains whether a privatised model can ever deliver the national water system England and Wales need. The Commission explicitly ruled out exploring nationalisation as an option for reform. This was a missed opportunity. Renationalisation of the water sector is supported by 82% of the general public, and may be the only solution to addressing the scale of the challenges.
- SERA is calling for a true analysis of nationalisation
SERA wants to see the government make it explicit that water companies are being put on notice. They should be given no more than 24 months to deliver real results on pollution, investment affordability and infrastructure upgrades in the context of the proposed reforms. Without this progress, SERA will be calling for nationalisation of the sector. However, any steps towards nationalisation require an independent analysis of its true costs and benefits. The current quoted estimate of £100bn is based on research funded by water companies, while many other sources have provided much lower estimates. For example, Moody’s rating agency has estimated that nationalisation could cost £14bn. DEFRA and the Treasury must now commence an investigation into the viability of nationalisation to uncover the true costs and benefits to the nation. The Government cannot afford to overlook this option.