5 Jun 2025
The Thames Water crisis is not going away. We've written an open letter to Steve Reed urging him to bring the failing water company into public ownership to protect customers and the environment.
The Right Honourable Steve Reed, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Dear Secretary of State,
Thames Water is back in crisis. KKR, the US private equity firm lined up to buy a stake in the failing water company, has just pulled out of the deal. It was reported that the investment firm feared further political interference and therefore deemed it too risky.
There is a catch-22 for privatised water. If the offer is attractive for private shareholders, it will be at the expense of customers and the environment. If the regulatory environment demands that companies clean up sewage and invest without ripping off households, this is no longer an attractive offer for shareholders.
Yesterday the interim findings of Sir Jon Cunliffe's Independent Water Commission were released, finding that "the current regulatory system for the water industry in England and Wales has largely lost public trust". Political risk in the water industry is not going away. This will make it ongoingly difficult to find a new private owner for Thames Water, but also means the government now has an important opportunity to stand up for 16 million Thames Water "customers" (who have no choice) and the country.
There has never been a cheaper time to take Thames Water into public ownership as its debt would be cut by around half (the Treasury estimates a 40% haircut for creditors, while JP Morgan estimates 55%).
82% of voters across all parties want water in public ownership. This is the normal way to manage water in 9 out of 10 countries across the world. Public ownership of Thames Water can build on best practice elsewhere and its governance structure should include a role for households, workers and anti sewage groups, alongside local councillors.
We urge you to step in using your existing legal powers of Special Administration and take Thames Water into permanent public ownership.
Yours sincerely,
We Own It
Compass
Windrush Against Sewage Pollution
Henley Mermaids
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Picture: We Own It