Letter: Councils Have a Role in Water Supply Incidents and Should Be At Public Meeting

Published on: 1 Dec, 2023
Updated on: 1 Dec, 2023

From: Mark Stamp

In response to: Details of MP-organised Public Meeting with Thames Water Announced

It seems strange that councillors are not part of the public meeting with Thames Water being organised by our local MPs. Yes, there were problems in supply which Thames Water is accountable for but there also seemed to be issues in the execution of the contingency plans which councils have a part in.

Only last week, Jeremy Hunt MP (Surrey South West), it was claimed, incorrectly accused Waverley Borough Council of failures in relation to the contingency measures (see: Waverley Council Leader Takes Issue with MP’s Letter to Thames Water). Is the fact that it was pointed out to him that a Conservative county council actually had some responsibility the reason that he has now not invited borough councillors to be on the panel?

I hope that the MPs also answer questions from a national perspective. It feels like the issues that we had in Guildford, Godalming and Cranleigh areas could happen anywhere across the country, so there should be an examination of whether councils, across the country, need to review contingency measures and whether Ofwat has the correct powers to ensure that water companies plans are sufficient.