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Labour’s announcement to scrap the water regulator Ofwat has been slammed as quite frankly “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.”
The Green Party that the government should nationalise water firms after three decades of being privatised.
A report from the Independent Water Commission led by Sir Jon Cunliffe made 88 recommendations to the UK and Welsh governments.
Water minister Emma Hardy told broadcasters on Monday the system is “broken” and failed to commit as to how many of the 88 recommendations will be accepted by the government.
The water system has been described as “fragmented and overlapping” and Ofwat will be scrapped for a “joined-up” and “more powerful” integrated water regulator made up of four bodies.
Sir Jon who authored the report has warned that household water bills will soar by 30% over the next five years.
Sir Jon said, “There are some inescapable facts here.
“The cost of producing water and dealing with our wastewater is going up.”
Sir Jon told Times Radio, “It’s the failure of Government to balance out all the different pressures on water.”
Sir Jon added water companies will “need to perform better” and “be funded to invest.”
Co-leader of the Green Party, Adrian Ramsay MP, said, “Expecting a different form of regulation to fix the water industry is, frankly, rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
Not only that but the majority of the public are going to be expected to pay more in bills, as we watch the industry continue to sink under the failed model of privatisation.
“The government deliberately left out the option of public ownership from the review.
But that’s the only real way to get the water industry to clean up its act, end millions being siphoned off for huge CEO salaries and shareholder dividends and instead see this money invested into ending sewage dumping and fixing leaks.
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