Just Scrapping Ofwat Will Not Solve Guildford’s Pollution Problems, Says MP

Published on: 23 Jul, 2025
Updated on: 23 Jul, 2025

By Martin Giles

News that the water industry regulator Ofwat is to be replaced has been welcomed by Guildford’s Lib Dem MP Zöe Franklin but, she says, it is not enough, the government has taken too long to act and it must now ensure the new regulator has the powers to properly hold water companies to account.

Franklin said: “In the 35 years since the water industry was privatised, Ofwat has presided over water companies putting profits before investment in crucial infrastructure and before providing a reliable and safe service to their customers.

“Under its watch, Thames Water has run up debts of more than £22 billion, while paying executive bonuses, dividends to shareholders, all the while pumping sewage into the waterways of Guildford and our villages.

“The Conservative government turned a blind eye to shameless profiteering and environmental
vandalism for 14 years.”

She claimed that in the last year, since Labour came to power, latest figures from the Environment Agency showed serious pollution incidents have increased by 60 per cent, with Thames Water being by far the worst.

She continued: “Although I am encouraged to see the Labour government announcing an overhaul of the water industry, after 14 years in opposition, why wasn’t there a plan ready to put in place last year?”

But in response to Franklin’s statement a spokesperson for Guildford Labour said: “It’s a pity that Zöe Franklin appears not yet to have taken time to read and absorb the 464 page final report from the Independent Water Commission.

“Had she done so she would have seen, on page 6 of the report: ‘There is no single, simple change, no matter how radical, that will reset the water sector and restore the trust that has been lost.’

“This sector requires fundamental reform on all sides – how we manage the demands on water, how the system is regulated, how companies are governed and how we manage the critical infrastructure on which we all rely.’

“The Labour government is making a fast start by abolishing Ofwat and establishing a new, single, powerful regulator to cut water pollution and protect families from massive bill hikes.

Thom Van Every

Chair of Guildford Conservatives Thom Van Every welcomed news of the merger of the regulators. “However,” he added, “it is disappointing to see the Labour Government has watered down sewage reduction targets rather than massively ramping them up.

“The Government’s new plans would actually see an additional 20,000 discharges of sewage in our rivers compared with the last Conservative Government’s plans, of which Guildford’s new MP claims she has no knowledge.

“It is disappointing that this Labour Government is failing to continue with serious reform put in place by the last Conservative Government. It is also disappointing that the Guildford MP’s response is not more robust in standing up for Guildford.”

Sam Peters

Sam Peters of The Green Party felt a more radical change was necessary. He said: “Replacing Ofwat is another tweak to a fundamentally flawed system that will ultimately fail to tackle the real issue – water being run for private profit, rather than public good.

“Privatised water has been an unmitigated disaster from the start. The profit motive in such a vital public service – let alone natural monopoly – only ever incentivises failure.

“The Independent Water Commission’s report itself makes clear how little difference new regulators will make – proclaiming any new regulator ‘must protect investors’ returns’.

“The Commission was explicitly banned from investigating public ownership – the solution supported by 85 per cent of the public. Claims of impossible costs are economically illiterate, mostly originating from a private water-funded think-tank.

“The other parties call for tweaks around the edges of a system which will continue delivering sewage dumping, corruption, infrastructure failures, asset stripping, and debt mountains. Only the Green Party will bring water back into public hands to be run for the good of the public, nature and our waterways.”

But MP Franklin said that the demise of Ofwat was significant. Her party, she said, had been arguing for the last three years that Ofwat is failing and must be replaced by a regulator who will have the power and the commitment to holding water companies to account.

“Tackling the scandal of sewage polluting our waterways remains one of my main focuses,” she said. “What I now want to see is a fundamental reset of the regulation system, which will prioritise stronger protection for customers and our environment.”

Responses to Just Scrapping Ofwat Will Not Solve Guildford’s Pollution Problems, Says MP

Tony Harrison Reply

July 23, 2025 at 5:46 pm

Taking public ownership off the table simply means that that the farce of private water will roll on and on.

Were the accounting rules changed to force TW to declare that they are trading insolvent, they could be taken back into public ownership at virtually zero cost, and the endless train of deep and rich gravy for shareholders and utterly absurd senior salaries would stop at a stroke.

Labour have totally bottled it on this issue, and us taxpayers and nature lovers will be the victims for decades more.