Eastbourne MP calls for South East Water boss to resign over outages
Josh Babarinde criticised failures affecting vulnerable residents and local communities.
Eastbourne MP Josh Babarinde has urged South East Water Chief Executive David Hinton to resign after thousands of residents in Kent and East Sussex were left with little or no water over the weekend.
Speaking in the House of Commons yesterday, Mr Babarinde highlighted the disruption caused by prolonged low or zero water pressure in Eastbourne communities, including Sovereign Harbour, Langney, Hampden Park, and St Anthony’s.
South East Water blamed the outages on cold weather and the effects of the recent storm. However, Mr Babarinde criticised the company’s inability to address the crisis effectively, including its failure to provide a bottled water station in Eastbourne.
Residents were forced to travel up to 70 miles round trip to East Grinstead to access emergency water supplies, an issue the MP described as particularly problematic for those registered as vulnerable under the Priority Services Register.
Mr Babarinde called for urgent reform of South East Water and accountability at the senior leadership level, describing the firm as a “busted flush” with years of underinvestment and poor resilience planning contributing to continued issues.
In a statement, Mr Babarinde said:
“South East Water has failed our town and our region.
This is the fourth major water outage since I became Eastbourne’s MP.
This latest incident is just another appalling failure to add to a growing list on hose pipe bans, water outages and droughts.
Leaving it to residents to pick up the bill.”
South East Water CEO David Hinton, whose base salary is £400,000 with an additional bonus of £115,000 last year, has come under increasing scrutiny due to multiple service failures in recent months.
Responding in the Commons, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Emma Reynolds called the situation “outrageous” and recognised its severity.
Residents and local leaders are calling for improved water supply resilience and accountability to prevent further outages in the future.