19 December 2024 — Luke Myer MP has backed the Government’s new Water (Special Measures) Bill in Parliament, arguing that families have paid the price for years of mismanagement while water company bosses and shareholders have profited from a broken system.

Luke said household bills have risen sharply at the same time as crumbling infrastructure has led to bursting pipes and record levels of sewage pollution. He criticised a model that has seen more than £41 million paid out in bonuses, benefits and incentives to water company executives over the past four years, despite repeated failures to invest properly in pipes, treatment works and storm overflow systems.

In voting for the Bill, Luke supported measures to ban bonuses for failing water bosses, introduce criminal sanctions for executives who break the law, and strengthen the Environment Agency so polluters must pay the full cost of enforcement action. The legislation will also be underpinned by the Cunliffe Review – the most significant examination of water regulation and governance since privatisation – and will ringfence funding for essential infrastructure so it cannot be diverted to bonuses or shareholder payouts.

Luke said the reforms mark a long-overdue reset for a monopoly industry in which customers have no ability to switch provider, and stressed that the priority must now be cleaner rivers, fewer sewage spills, and a fairer deal for bill-payers.

Luke Myer MP said:

“For too long, families have been left footing the bill while water bosses and shareholders have profited. This Bill is the start of a new era. It’s time to put accountability, investment and clean water first – and I’ll keep pushing to make sure it delivers for our communities.”