In January 2026, responding to South East Water raising bills by 7% while under investigation by Ofwat, Alison Bennett branded the water industry “a failed industry” and called for a parliamentary debate on a mutual ownership model for water companies.
Local residents shouldn’t have to foot the bill for the failures of private water companies to clean up the mess they themselves created. After everything that customers across Sussex and Kent have put up with over the winter, this decision - in the midst of an ongoing cost-of-living crisis - is insulting. No resident should be paying hiked bills whilst they continue to question whether they will have water running from their taps.
In May, Mid Sussex was hit with the Planning Inspectorate’s decision to overrule local council decisions and approve additional development sites across the district. Despite strong local opposition, Mid Sussex has been told that it must absorb housing numbers arising from the unmet housing needs of neighbouring authorities, including Crawley, Brighton and Hove.
While there is a need for homes, one of Alison's biggest concerns is whether local water infrastructure is capable of supporting further large-scale growth.
Regular water supply failures and hosepipe bans demonstrate just how severe water stress has become across our part of the South East. For months, families were asked to restrict their water use while continuing to pay rising bills.
Residents deserve honest answers about how essential services will cope with future population growth. Residents say the planning system that appears willing to approve development without first guaranteeing the infrastructure needed to support it.
Alison has consistently argued that housing targets must be matched by investment in water supply, sewage treatment, roads, schools and healthcare facilities. Building homes without ensuring the proper infrastructure that supports them risks putting even greater strain on existing communities.
As your MP, Alison Bennett is continuing to press water companies, regulators and government ministers to provide clear plans for how our water network will meet future demand. Mid Sussex residents should not be asked to accept thousands of additional homes without confidence that reliable water supplies and essential services will be there to support them.
After consistently calling for South East Water Chief Executive Dave Hinton to resign and take responsibility for the company’s repeated failures, Alison welcomed his decision to step down.
Residents across Sussex and Kent have endured unacceptable water outages, with 24,000 homes across the areas losing water or pressure, alongside poor communication and a lack of accountability from South East Water’s leadership. Following sustained public pressure, criticism from MPs and a damning parliamentary report into the company’s performance, Mr Hinton announced his resignation in May 2026, accepting that his position had become a distraction from the urgent task of restoring a reliable water supply.
However, a change in leadership alone will not solve the underlying problems. South East Water must now demonstrate that it has a plan to invest in infrastructure, improve resilience and rebuild the trust of customers who have been repeatedly let down.
In January 2026, residents across towns and villages in Mid Sussex experienced widespread water supply disruptions due to cut-offs by South East Water. Many households were left without running water for several days.
Throughout the crisis, Alison repeatedly challenged South East Water on its lack of preparedness, questioning why the company was unable to cope with what has been typical winter weather. The Liberal Democrats were the first to call for the resignation of South East Water’s CEO, David Hinton, in response to the company’s failures.
Following this, Alison wrote to the Water Minister, Emma Hardy MP, condemning South East Water for its poor planning and seeking assurances about the company’s preparedness for future outages that may affect Mid Sussex, including whether sensible contingency plans are in place.
Furthermore, during Prime Minister’s Questions, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey raised the severe impact of these cut-offs on towns and villages across Mid Sussex. He called for stronger regulation of water companies and urged the government to strip South East Water of its licence.
Every day, an average of 3 billion litres of water is lost in England and Wales due to leaky pipes, enough to fill 1,200 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats shows these leaks are costing customers £396 million a year.
Water companies like South East Water have had years to fix these problems, but too often they fail to invest in the infrastructure that keeps our taps running.
Alison has called out water companies for their repeated failures to maintain pipelines and protect our water supply. She raised this directly with Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband and has attended urgent meetings with water companies to review their long-term infrastructure plans, pushing for real accountability for Mid Sussex residents.
Commenting on the leaks, Alison said:
“Water companies like South East Water have had years to fix leaks and invest in long-term infrastructure, but they’ve repeatedly failed to deliver. It’s time for real accountability, and that means stronger regulation to make sure our water supply is secure for the future.”
“Households in Mid Sussex are being told to do their bit with hosepipe bans while the company fails to do theirs, and at the same time our bills keep going up.”
Alison is continuing to campaign for stronger regulation, including replacing Ofwat with a regulator that will hold water companies to account and ensure a secure, sustainable water supply for residents. Help her achieve this by signing her Scrap the Water Bill Price Hike petition, here.
Alison has also been speaking out against sewage pollution affecting our rivers, seas, and beaches. Water companies have pumped sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas more than 1 million times over the past three years - these reckless sewage spills put public health at risk and make our waterways unsafe.
Water companies need to clean up their own messes rather than force taxpayers to fix the problem - Alison is calling on the Government to take action on this and replace Ofwat, who has time and time again allowed water companies to get away with these careless decisions and introduce a Clean Water Authority. Help Alison achieve this by signing her Stop Sewage Dumping petition, here.
Alison and her Liberal Democrat colleagues share in the public’s outrage at increasing annual bonuses taken by water company executives, whilst these water crises prevail. With Southern Water bosses' bonuses hitting £26 million since 2019 despite the ongoing scandals.
Water companies have been able to act recklessly for too long, spilling millions of litres of sewage into our rivers and seas while lining the pockets of those at the top. Meanwhile, customers are expected to continue paying high prices, while our natural world pays the price.
Fines need to be tougher and applied immediately, so that those who are responsible face real consequences for doing so. Ofwat failed to do this, and we must now have a body that is truly committed to keeping our water clean and safe for us all.
Alison Bennett said:
“The water industry is utterly broken and Ofwat has proven itself completely incapable of holding these polluting firms to account and protecting our area's environment.
“This Conservative government has failed to hold water companies to account. Our water industry needs top to bottom reform but Conservative Ministers have sat idly by as the sewage scandal has wrecked our waterways.
“Liberal Democrats here in Mid Sussex have led the campaign against sewage dumping and with our plans for a new regulator we would end these disgraceful bonuses and profits and make sure Southern Water has to protect our environment.”
Alison Bennett took South East Water to task over unnecessary hosepipe bans.
While it may be necessary during times of drought, banning the use of hosepipes during wet winter months when reservoirs are full and groundwater levels are high is clearly ridiculous.
After the petition launched by Alison to end the hosepipe ban received hundreds of signatures from local residents, South East Water finally lifted their hosepipe ban after 8-months.
Last week, it was clear from my inbox how angry people in Mid Sussex rightly are about the state of our water. I’ve been speaking up for our community and holding water companies, and the government, to account for the broken state of our water system...
In her weekly column, Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Mid Sussex, Alison Bennett takes a look at Southern Water and the health of Mid Sussex's waterways.
In her weekly column, Alison Bennett, Liberal Democrat MP for Mid Sussex looks at what can be done to make sure we all have access to clean water.
In her weekly column, Alison Bennett, Liberal Democrat MP for Mid Sussex, discusses the alarming rise in water bills and the government's decision to delay county council elections, and why these decisions are a failure for Sussex residents.
In her weekly column, Liberal Democrat MP for Mid Sussex Alison Bennett looks at the shocking rise in sewage dumping near Sussex's Blue Flag beaches, and the funding crisis in the hospice sector.
The Liberal Democrats have announced plans to increase the number of water inspections after sewage was dumped 664 times in 2023 in waterways in Mid Sussex.