MP's demand water company fine immunity plea is blocked
Thames Water wants to be free from financial penalties until 2030 to spend the money on service upgrades
MP's in Wiltshire are calling for the Government to block a request from Thames Water to be immune from fines for the next four years.
The company wants to use the money it would be forced to pay to invest in infrastructure to improve its service, but Swindon North's Will Stone and Sarah Gibson for Chippenham, Calne, Corsham and Royal Wootton Bassett insist Ministers must reject these proposals.
Mr Stone has written to Ofwat, which is considering the bid, and Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Emma Reynolds, to voice his objections.
Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio, Ms Gibson said "enough is enough".
"People are paying more and getting less. After years of increasing bills, the only result is that sewage dumping has spiralled to record levels," the Liberal Democrat said, adding that allowing companies to escape fines for failures is not a "credible" way to achieve cleaner rivers, fewer leaks and end sewage dumping.
An attempt to undermine the industry
In a post on social media, Labour MP Mr Stone, said the proposed investments should be "industry standard".
He said accepting the request would undermine the entire industry and would send completely the wrong message to other companies across the country.
Mr Stone said the organisations debts had spiralled over the last three decades, quadrupling to £20bn since 2010.
Ms Gibson told us it would confirm a precent that appears to exist already.
"The reality is that this industry has already been allowed to get away with far too much. Just 14% of our rivers and lakes are in good ecological health. That tells you everything about how badly the system is failing. In the meantime, water company bosses have taken home over £20 million in a single year," she said.
The Chippenham MP insisted that fines bring accountability and removing them would send a message that "failure has no consequences". She's called for greater scrutiny on water companies.
A "broken" system in desperate need of repair
Ms Gibson has long fought the fight on tackling falling standards in the water industry, challenging both the Government and Thames Water to address issues within the sector since being elected in 2024.
She's made calls for the organisation to be placed into "special administration" saying it would provide a chance to "get a grip on its debt and prioritise investment where needed".
She added that this issue goes "right to the heart of a broken system".
Mr Stone believes water companies should be owned and operated by the people of England and Wales.
He said: "The experiment of the privatisation of this natural monopoly in my view is clearly one of failure."
Ms Gibson told us communities shouldn't be left paying the price for a system in disarray.
"Right now, water companies are acting with impunity, polluting rivers, under-investing in infrastructure, and still paying out huge rewards at the top. The government has been far too slow to act. Nearly a year ago, we were promised a powerful new regulator to replace Ofwat.
"And yet, here we are."
She echoed Mr Stone's view that a new ownership model is required, saying such companies must be "run for public benefit, owned by customers and not driven by profit".
She added: "Until we fix the system itself, we'll keep seeing the same failures repeated."
We've asked the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to comment.