Water bosses blocked from bonuses after pollution failures
Bonuses worth over £4m have been withheld from executives of multiple firms due to performance issues
Last updated 5th Nov 2025
More than £4 million of possible bonuses for water company executives, including those at Anglian Water, have been blocked as a result of performance failures, according to the industry regulator Ofwat.
Since June 2023, Ofwat has required water companies to comply with new rules on performance-related executive pay. As a result, six water firms have withheld annual bonuses and other awards from their directors, primarily due to failings involving pollution.
The companies affected include Anglian Water, Southern Water, Thames Water, United Utilities Water, Wessex Water, and Yorkshire Water.
The new rules aim to hold water company executives accountable for their operational performance, particularly environmental measures such as pollution reduction.
It comes after last month’s provisional decision by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to allow Anglian Water, alongside other firms, to raise customer bills by between 1% and 5% above regulator Ofwat’s original limits.
The CMA panel stated that most of the companies’ requests for bill increases were “largely unjustified” and emphasised the need to balance funding for essential improvements with the impact on household budgets.
Under the provisional decision, Anglian Water’s bills would increase by a further 1%, which was considered necessary to meet regulatory requirements.