Our Water System is Broken

Our Water System Is Broken – And People Deserve Better

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.

Hosepipe bans, but leaks left unfixed

In last week’s Monday Mail, I wrote about the hosepipe ban that has now come into force. We can all see, by looking at South East Water’s own leaks map, how unfixed leaks are causing thousands of litres of water to be lost every day. Households in Mid Sussex are being told to do their bit while the company fails to do theirs, and at the same time our bills keep going up.

I raised this directly with Ed Miliband when he gave the first Climate and Nature Statement to the House of Commons on Monday. This is another Lib Dem win thanks to the work of my colleague Roz Savage MP.

On Friday I joined ITV Meridian on Chanctonbury Road in Burgess Hill to highlight the local impact of leaks and supply problems that residents there know all too well.

Sewage dumping on an industrial scale

For nearly everyone in Mid Sussex, South East Water provides our tap water, and Southern Water deals with our wastewater, and last week saw the publication of 2024’s water pollution stats, and the results were awful for our area.

Southern Water was responsible for 15 out of 75 serious pollution incidents last year – the second‑highest share after Thames Water. This meant that 20% of England’s most damaging water contamination events happened in Southern Water’s region. 

The ‘Top of the Poops’ website summarises Southern’s performance. It shows that they discharged sewage over 29,000 times, spilling for a total of more than 300,000 hours. 

A pay rise that stinks

And I am sorry to say that it gets worse. 

Whilst Southern Water continues to fail, its CEO Lawrence Gosden doubled his pay to a staggering £1.4 million last year. That includes a six-figure “long-term incentive” payout, despite a government ban on bonuses for polluting water bosses that came into effect last month.

I met Mr Gosden when I visited Southern Water’s offices in May. He looked me in the eye and told me that his staff who come to work committed fixing to our water system, find the scrutiny from politicians and the press hard to bear. Mr Gosden argued that this could have consequences for retention and recruitment of skilled water engineers. I don’t doubt this, but I also think that an executive pay settlement of this magnitude may also be detrimental to morale. 

I think that Lawrence Gosden should either refuse or return this stealth bonus. Southern Water needs to get its house in order - fast. 

What’s next? A regulator shake-up?

Today, we expect Sir Jon Cunliffe to publish his long-awaited review of the water industry. There’s growing speculation that Ofwat may be scrapped and replaced with a much tougher regulator, something the Liberal Democrats have been calling for since 2022.

That would be a welcome step. But when you look at the full picture: water shortages, sewage spills, unaffordable bills, and fat cat CEOs, it’s clear this government has a long way to go to get the country’s water providers back on track. I’ll keep pushing for bold reform, proper accountability, and a system that serves customers and nature.

Getting in touch

My parliamentary email address is: alison.bennett.mp@parliament.uk. If you need my help, please get in touch.

Best wishes,

Alison

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