16 Oct 2026
We Own It director, Cat Hobbs, has today written to the government and water regulator, Ofwat, calling for water bill hikes to be BLOCKED and for Thames Water to be brought into public hands immediately. Below is a copy of the letter.
Dear Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Chancellor John Healey, Environment Secretary Angela Eagle and Chris Walters, Interim Chief Executive at Ofwat,
I am writing to urge you to remove Thames Water’s licence immediately and bring it into special administration and then permanent public ownership.
It is absurd that Thames Water is now asking its creditors for a further £2.4 billion to stay afloat - this saga has dragged out since July 2024 when the company was first in breach of its licence conditions.
It is beyond comprehension that Thames Water is being allowed to operate at all. Every year water privatisation in England costs bill payers up to £4.4 billion, or £176 for every household and rising.(1) Ofwat’s decision this week to refund the equivalent of less than a meal deal - £2.87 - to Thames Water households as a consequence for poor performance is quite frankly insulting.(2)
Just this week, Thames Water’s so-called “customers” (who have no choice) have been quoted in the news on the hosepipe ban and leaks (3):
"I have zero confidence in Thames Water - they are not putting anything into the infrastructure."
"I received a message to stop watering my flowers, it's ridiculous - the water has been leaking for two months"
It is your job to stand up for these people and for the majority of voters across all parties who back public ownership.
Water companies can have their licences removed because they are insolvent or because they are failing to fulfil their statutory duties. Your government should be using this power, starting by removing Thames Water’s licence and taking it into special administration.
I understand that the government is nervous about negotiating a haircut with Thames Water’s creditors to slash the company’s debt in the interests of the public. The water industry is funding scaremongering reports to put you off standing up for the public interest.
They took over the privatised English water companies debt free in 1989. Since then, they’ve loaded up the companies with over £82 billion debt, and extracted over £85 billion in dividends. They’ve sold off reservoirs instead of building them, allowed pipes to leak and sewage to flow in rivers and seas.
Now these companies are using our billpayer money to buy PR to tell you that BECAUSE of this debt they’ve racked up at our expense, public ownership is too expensive. They are wrong.
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Your regulation of the water sector sets the framework for what is acceptable behaviour from water companies and determines how profitable they can be - you have the option to insist on an end to illegal sewage spills, investment in the infrastructure and the cost of repairs to be made available on the balance sheets of these companies
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Bringing water companies into public ownership one at a time through special administration means that the debts can be slashed as part of that process
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Whatever debt is still left on the company books is already being paid for by households under the current system. Bringing water into public ownership, starting with Thames Water, would give the government assets with a revenue stream of over £14 billion a year from our bills - which can continue to pay for the interest payments on the transferred debt (4)
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Public ownership of water would deliver savings of £3 to £5 billion a year over time from cheaper financing costs (no shareholder dividends, less expensive debt). Scotland invests 50% more than England and Scottish Water’s bills are 20% lower because it is publicly owned. Taking water into public ownership would reduce the cost of living burden as well as freeing up money for infrastructure (5)
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When it comes to future debt for investment, the government should make it possible for new publicly owned water companies to borrow to invest on their own account (rather than adding to the national debt) as is standard practice elsewhere in Europe
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The more generalised risk of “contagion” and lack of investment in the economy is not just wildly overstated by the industry, it’s simply wrong. As the Good Growth Foundation has said, Thames Water shareholders who have written down their shares are still investing elsewhere in the economy
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Investors need clarity - if regulated natural monopoly utilities are no longer opportunities for extraction this is a limited, boundaried measure and the government can communicate that it wants to bring monopoly assets into public ownership in line with other countries
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Cheaper bills and investment in the infrastructure will be a net benefit to the economy as a whole, for example seaside towns not blighted by sewage, more money in people’s pockets, proper planning for water shortages
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Blair’s government stood up to Railtrack shareholders when that company went bust and they were paid just a quarter of what they wanted
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When Network Rail’s debt of £31 billion was transferred to the public sector (expected to rise to £50 billion - the equivalent of £72 billion today) bond yields actually fell from 3% a year to 2.2% a year.(6)
Politically the government cannot dodge this issue. You have a historic opportunity to end this rip off.(7) Privatisation is wasting a third of our water bills on shareholder dividends and expensive debt. Public ownership is the norm in 9 out of 10 water systems worldwide.
You have said that when it comes to Thames Water, public ownership is what should be done. Please remove the company’s licence now.
Thank you for your time, I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely
Cat Hobbs, Director of We Own It
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Oxford Mail, 15th October 2026, ‘Thames Water told to return '£2.87 per customer' by 2030’ https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/26635445.thames-water-told-return--2-87-per-customer-2030/
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Professor Ewan McGaughey, ‘Crystal Clear: The Solutions for Clean, Running Water’ https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=7481359
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BBC News, 13th October 2026, ‘Hosepipe ban “ridiculous” while pipes are leaking’ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx98zy3rd5veo
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University of Greenwich, Public Services International Research Unit, 2025 ‘Leaking money. The finance costs of privatised water and regulation in England and Wales: Scottish public ownership shows potential savings’ https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/50096/
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Ibid.
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Professor David Hall evidence for EFRA Select Committee, information about bond markets at https://bondvigilantes.com/blog/2014/12/duration-duration-duration-review-bond-market-returns-2014/
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We Own It, September 2026, ‘How and why Andy Burnham should deliver public ownership’ https://weownit.org.uk/research-and-resources/how-and-why-andy-burnham-should-deliver-public-ownership
