June 26, 2024
The Rt Hon Steve Barclay
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Seacole Building, 2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
19thJune 2024
Dear Secretary of State,
Subject: Vote of No Confidence in Thames Water and request for renationalisation
I am writing to you on behalf of Henley on Thames Town Council to express our profound concerns regarding the performance of Thames Water. At last week’s meeting of the Full Council, a vote of no confidence in Thames Water was passed unanimously, along with a call for Thames Water to be renationalised. This resolution reflects the deep dissatisfaction and frustration of our community with the current management and operations of the company.
The Thames is the lifeblood of our community, sustaining the town’s economic and social vitality. The river supports local businesses, attracts tourists, hosting events such as Henley Festival, annual regattas, most notably Henley Royal Regatta, and a range of other sporting events, including several open water swimming events. The river in Henley is used for training rowers and other professional sports people, as well as attracting thousands of people a year for recreational boating, kayaking, paddle boarding, swimming and fishing. Having a clean and safe river is therefore of the highest importance to us.
We are therefore very concerned to note that:
- Water testing in the summer of 2023 showed that at just one site near Henley, faecal indicator organisms were, on average, 23 times higher than considered safe by the Bathing Waters Directive.
- Of the 44 serious incidents caused by water companies in 2022, 17 (almost 40%) of those were caused by Thames Water.
- Thames Water has consistently performed poorly when compared with its peers across the country, achieving a 2-star rating two years in a row in the Environmental Performance Report.
- Thames Water are also the worst performing water company for the delivery of the Water Industry National Environmental Programme.
- Thames Water was the second-lowest performing water company for the self-reporting of pollution incidents.
- Over the past six years, Thames Water have been fined over £35.7m for unauthorized spills.
- In the 3 years to November 2023 at least 72 billion litres of raw sewage was released into the River Thames.
Thames Water’s consistent failures in environmental stewardship have eroded public trust and confidence in the company’s ability to manage our essential water resources effectively.
This has been compounded by the lack of investment in Thames Water’s assets, with profits being used to pay dividends (both internal and external) to its investors, rather than being invested in improving its ageing infrastructure. Furthermore, since 2016, Thames Water profits have been insufficient to cover the payments on its debts, with their debt growing to 80% of the value of its business, making it the most heavily-indebted water company in the country, and with a debt to capital value ratio far exceeding the 60% suggested by Ofwat. It is clear that their financial situation is not sustainable, and that they are not in a position to deliver the minimum standard of public service and environmental stewardship.
Given the critical nature of these issues, Henley on Thames Town Council believes that immediate and decisive action is required to safeguard the interests of our community and the environment. We, therefore, urge the government to renationalise Thames Water and take immediate action to prevent further contamination of the River Thames. We believe that a return to public ownership would ensure greater accountability, enhanced service quality, a more robust commitment to environmental sustainability, and ensure that profits are reinvested into improving infrastructure. Furthermore the danger to public health is increasing with illnesses from river users on the rise, and the danger of irreparable damage to the ecosystem in the river is now a very real threat.
We request that your office undertake a thorough review of Thames Water’s operations and seriously consider our call for renationalisation. Our community deserves a water service provider that prioritises the health of our rivers and communities over profits, and we are confident that renationalisation is a step in the right direction towards achieving this goal.
We look forward to your response and are willing to engage further on this matter to provide any additional information or support required.
Yours sincerely,
Sheridan Jacklin-Edward CertHE FdA BA Hons MA FSLCC
Town Clerk
