Thames Water put into special measures; households in England and Wales face £94 five-year water bill increase – business live | Business

Here is more reaction to the £94 average rise in water bills in England and Wales in the next five years, proposed by the regulator Ofwat.

Giles Bristow, chief executive of Surfers Against Sewage, said:

The general election campaign made clear that the public is fed up with those in power turning a blind eye to the sewage scandal.

Unfortunately today’s announcement, in which Ofwat accepts that we will all have to swim and surf in sewage way beyond 2030, does nothing to change that.

Signing off on the continuation of at least 200,000 sewage discharges a year is simply unacceptable and a sign that the regulator still doesn’t comprehend the scale of public fury on this issue.

He called for the new Labour government to launch a public inquiry as the only way to “help us understand how we got here and how we can dig our way out”.

Paul de Zylva, from Friends of the Earth, said the decision on bills and investment “yet again proves that our current form of water privatisation is not fit for purpose”.

It sees water companies pile pressure on Ofwat to allow them to hike customers’ bills to subsidise long-overdue investment in our crumbling sewage infrastructure which might cut or prevent some, but by no means all, pollution.”

While he said Ofwat’s draft determination shows it is not pandering to everything water companies want, many will still see the increase in bills as “unfair”.

He called on the government to provide greater funding for the Environment Agency, which is tasked with regulating the environmental actions of water companies, and put a “green duty” on Ofwat alongside its environmental focus, as well as impose tougher sanctions on “irresponsible” water firms.

Here is Thames Water’s response to today’s Ofwat announcement.

Britain’s biggest water company said it had put forward an “ambitious plan” to Ofwat, asking for £19.8bn of total expenditure to maintain reliable supplies of safe drinking water and to deal with wastewater across London, the Thames Valley and Home Counties.

Within this we put forward record investment to improve infrastructure, meet new environmental standards and reduce river pollution. Our plan will also improve the resilience of our critical infrastructure in the face of challenges such as climate change and population growth.

We believe our plan is ambitious, deliverable, financeable and investible. It is also underpinned by a package to support over 500,000 customers with reduced bills.

Ofwat’s draft determination understandably challenges us on efficiency and delivery. They have been thoughtful in considering the funding we need for our day to day running costs and the improvements our customers and communities want to see.

Although Ofwat currently categorises our business plan as ‘inadequate,’ this judgment rests on over 20 very specific tests around the scope of information to be provided, and evidence required to depart from Ofwat’s own assumptions. Ofwat has made clear it will revisit its view if we provide further evidence to reach a final determination that is, in the round, affordable for customers, deliverable, financeable, as well as investable. We welcome the opportunity to provide Ofwat with further evidence about the need for the investment we plan to make, our costs and how we will deliver it.

It said it was “taking stock of our turnaround plan under our new leadership”. Chris Weston, a former British Gas executive, was appointed as its new boss in December, replacing Sarah Bentley, and started in January.

Thames said it will respond to Ofwat by 28 August, and the regulator will make a final determination in December.

The pound hit a four-month high after the better-than-expected UK GDP figures, which showed the economy grew by 0.4% in May following zero growth in April. Economists say this suggests that in the second quarter it grew at a similar rate to the first quarter’s 0.7%.

Sterling rose by 0.2% to $1.2879.

European shares are rising ahead of the US inflation figures for June, out at lunchtime. The FTSE 100 index is 31 points, or 0.4%, higher at 8,224, with water companies Severn Trent and United Utilities leading the gains, up 3.2% and 2.6% respectively. The German and Italian markets edged 0.16% higher while the French index climbed by 0.5%.

Headline inflation in the US is expected to have eased to 3.1% in June from 3.3% in May, while core inflation, which strips out energy and food, is forecast to have stayed at 3.4%.

In Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, inflation eased to 2.5% in June from 2.8% in May, according to final official figures, leaving the door open for an interest rate cut from the European Central Bank in September.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said:

The new government has placed economic growth at the heart of its policies and it will be pleased to have inherited positive momentum with GDP.

The bigger issue is whether the Bank of England will look at this data and feel less inclined to cut rates. After all, cutting rates is something a central bank does to stimulate a lacklustre economy, not grease the wheels for one already moving ahead. That said, momentum could easily lose pace, particularly if the jobs market weakens and sticky inflation causes consumers to stay cautious on spending.

A stronger pound has traditionally been unfavourable for the FTSE 100 given many of its constituents earn in US dollars. That factor was given a backseat as utilities, miners and big consumer brand companies including Diageo and Unilever helped to push the index higher.

Thames Water put into special measures

Alex Lawson

The water industry regulator has put Thames Water into special measures giving it extra scrutiny of the struggling water supplier, as it faces the prospect of a painful restructuring or temporary nationalisation.

Ofwat said today that Thames, Britain’s biggest water company, would be placed in a “turnaround oversight regime” and subject to “heightened regulatory” measures, meaning the company must regularly report on the progress of its investment plan.

The regulator made the announcement as it published its draft review on English and Welsh water companies’ business plans which showed bills will rise by £94 on average in England and Wales over the next five years. The plans proposed sums which companies intend to charge customers between 2025 and 2030.

The review said Thames customers will face a 22% increase in their bills over the next five years.

Ofwat said Thames would be allowed to increase bills by £99 to £535, £92 less than the company had proposed. Thames, which serves 16 million customers across London and the south-east, had asked the regulator to raise bills by 44% over the next five years.

The price review is seen as crucial for the future of Thames Water, which is creaking under £15.2bn of debt. The company said this week that, after the review, it would approach potential investors this autumn, before Ofwat’s final verdict in December.

Over the next five years, Thames has been tasked with reduce sewage spills by 64%, cutting leaks by 19% and reducing supply interruptions by two-thirds.

The regulator said:

Thames Water faces significant issues and as it seeks to tackle them, our draft determinations will support a major investment programme but also subject the company to new, heightened regulatory measures.

As a result of being put into the regime, Thames will have to provide a “delivery action plan” and regularly report on the progress of its spending programme.

Shares in several water companies have risen and are leading gains on the FTSE 100 index this morning, following the Ofwat announcement that water bills in England and Wales will rise by an average of £94 over the next five years, in plans set out by the regulator.

Severn Trent and United Utilities are the top two risers on the FTSE 100, up by 2.9% and 2.3% respectively. The index rose by 18 points, or 0.2%, overall to 82,12. Germany’s Dax rose by 0.3%, France’s CAC climbed by 0.5% and Italy’s FTSE MiB edged by 0.1% higher.

FTSE 250-listed Pennon Group jumped 6.4% this morning. The Exeter-based utility said its finance chief Steve Buck was stepping down for personal reasons, after nearly a year in the role. He will be succeeded by Laura Flowerdew, a company insider and previously chief financial officer at Bristol Water.

Ahead of his meeting with the bosses of all 16 water suppliers in England and Wales this afternoon, Steve Reed, the UK environment secretary, announced a series of “initial steps towards ending the crisis in the water sector”.

He has written to Ofwat, asking the water regulator to ensure funding for vital infrastructure investment is ringfenced and can only be spent on upgrades benefiting customers and the environment. He also wants Ofwat to ensure that when money for investment is not spent, companies refund customers, with money never allowed to be diverted for bonuses, dividends or salary increases.

He wants water companies to change their Articles of Association, the rules governing each company, to make the interests of customers and the environment the primary objective.

Consumers will gain new powers to hold water company bosses to account through “powerful new customer panels,” the government said. For the first time in history, customers will have the power to summon board members and hold water executives to account.

Strengthened protection and compensation for households and businesses when their basic water services are affected. Subject to consultation, the amount of compensation customers are legally entitled to when key standards are not met will more than double. The payments will also be triggered by a wider set of circumstances including Boil Water Notices.

Reed said:

We will never look the other way while water companies pump sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas.

This unacceptable destruction of our waterways should never have been allowed, but change has now begun so it can never happen again.

Today I have announced significant steps to clean up the water industry to cut sewage pollution, protect customers and attract investment to upgrade its crumbling infrastructure.

That change will take time. Over the coming weeks and months, this government will outline further steps to reform the water sector and restore our rivers, lakes and seas to good health.

Water UK, the trade body for the water industry, said the Ofwat announcement amounts to the “biggest ever cut in investment” in water and sewage infrastructure . A spokesperson said:

If it doesn’t put this right Ofwat will be repeating the mistakes of the past. As a direct result, more housing will be blocked, the recovery of our rivers will be slower and we will fail to deal with the water shortages we know are coming. Water companies proposed to invest £105bn because it is the minimum needed to meet the legitimate concerns we’ve heard from the public about our environment and our economy.

Ofwat is right to want to ensure customers receive value for money and that is why protections are in place to ensure customers only pay for projects that are new, necessary and value for money. But for far too long, Ofwat has failed to be realistic about the levels of investment needed and what it will take to deliver and maintain necessary infrastructure. We cannot allow this pattern to repeat itself. Water companies are ready to invest in an unprecedented overhaul of the country’s water and sewage infrastructure. Ofwat now needs to let them get on with it.

Becky Malby of the Ilkley Clean River campaign in west Yorkshire, which wants to secure bathing water status for a river in England said Ofwat had gone back on its promises.

A year ago, David Black, the CEO at Ofwat wrote to the Ilkey Clean River Group saying “We are firm in our commitment to ensuring that the customer should not pay twice for a company’s shortfall.” In addition he stated that “We are determined to use all the regulatory powers as fully as possible to improve the performance of water companies for customers and the environment.“

Today Ofwat announced a bill rise of £107 BEFORE inflation by 2029/30, for Yorkshire Water customers, amounting to an additional £9 per month + inflation.

Our water system is at breaking point. The additional price increase secures a basic functioning sewage system here at Ilkley and is in direct contradiction to David Black’s promise. We are, after all, being told to pay twice.

Another upside surprise for UK GDP in May means that second-quarter growth is likely to be close to the first quarter’s strong expansion, despite drags from the early Easter and strikes in the health sector. “The recovery has clearly built some strong momentum in the first half,” said the EY Item Club, which uses the Treasury’s forecasting model.

It expects GDP to continue to grow at a decent pace in the second half, with consumers central to the story. Further solid gains in household spending power look likely, and if consumers adopt a less cautious approach, in line with recent household survey results, we can expect a strong pickup in consumer spending growth.

Peter Arnold, EY UK chief economist, said:

Four days of strike action in the healthcare sector at the end of June will have weighed on output last month. But even allowing for that factor, GDP is likely to have grown by at least 0.5% quarter-on-quarter in Q2. Indeed, there’s a realistic possibility that Q2 could have matched the 0.7% growth achieved in Q1, so it’s clear that the recovery has built some strong momentum.

The EY ITEM Club’s expectation that GDP continues to grow at a decent pace in H2 is founded mostly on optimism about consumer prospects. Lower inflation and still strong pay growth should combine to deliver further solid improvements in household spending power. Thus far, strong real income growth has only translated into a tepid recovery in spending as consumers have remained cautious. But there are signs from consumer surveys that the mood is changing, and the EY Item Club is optimistic that further real income gains will translate into a more meaningful pickup in spending growth in H2.

Simon French, chief economist and head of research at Panmure Liberum, said:

Back to the UK economy returning to growth in May, which is a boon for Keir Starmer’s government.

Sanjay Raja, chief UK economist of Deutsche Bank, noted that GDP surprised to the upside yet again, expanding by 0.4% month on month, driven by stronger services activity and construction output.

While the warmest May on record may have helped activity in the services and construction sectors, UK GDP is now undeniably picking up steam. The short-lived recession is now very much behind us. It’s now likely that Q2 growth could come close to the mark set in Q1 (our current nowcast models point to a 0.6% quarter-on-quarter reading with risks skewed to the upside). Equally, upside risks to our 2024 growth projection of 0.8% are also now crystallising.

This should be a boon for the new Labour government with growth now likely to outstrip the Office for Budget Responsibility’s 2024 GDP forecasts, partially offsetting some of the projected increase in interest rate costs. We will update our growth projections soon.

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.

England are through to the final in the euro men’s football tournament, and the UK economy has returned to growth.

In other news, the average water bill is set to rise by £94 over the next five years in England and Wales, the water regulator Ofwat said.

The 21% increase, or £19 a year on average, is intended to fund investment at water companies for improvements such as fixing leaking pipes and tackling the discharge of sewage into rivers and seas. Is is lower than water companies had asked for.

The UK economy grew by 0.4% in May after showing no growth in April, resuming its recovery from last year’s recession, according to official figures.

April was a very wet month, putting consumers off from spending on the high street.

The outcome is better than the 0.2% growth forecast by econommists.

GDP grew by 0.9% in the three months to May compared with the the three months to February, driven by 1.1% expansion in services output, according to the Office for National Statistics.

In May alone, services output rose by 0.3%, the same rate as in April (revised up from 0.2%), and was the biggest contributor to growth.

Production output grew by 0.2% in May following a drop of 0.9% in April, and posted zero growth in the three months to May.

Construction output grew by 1.9% in May, following a fall of 1.1% in April (revised higher from a fall of 1.4%), and declined by 0.7% in the three months to May.

The Agenda

• 1.30pm BST: US Inflation for June (forecast: 3.1%), core inflation (forecast: 3.4%)

• 1.30pm BST: US jobless claims