Oxfordshire campaigners have pushed Andy Burnham on the future of Thames Water amid rumours he may not place the company into special administration, having previously supported the move.
Ash Smith, of Windrush Against Sewage Pollution, has urged the prime minister to press on with the special administration process as the group's petition on holding a referendum into bringing water into public ownership passes 200,000 signatures.
Special administration is a special type of court-ordered insolvency process used for failing companies that provide critical public services. It could be used as a route to public ownership.
The call comes after the UK’s largest water company reported debt of close to £20 billion, having previously been fined £122.7 million, mainly for failing to properly operate and maintain treatment works.
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During the recent wet weather, several sewage treatment facilities pumped waste into waterways, having done so for much of the winter.
This included Burford and Milton-under-Wychwood, with Thames Water explaining that the record-breaking hot weather has meant the ground has become hard and so is less able to absorb rainfall.
The petition around the company’s ownership, set up by WASP, passed the threshold for a House of Commons debate a month ago with the session scheduled for September 14.
Mr Smith – who was portrayed by David Thewlis in the Channel 4 series Dirty Business earlier this year – said: “Protecting and serving the country and its people is the job of government, not to prioritise the companies.”
He added: “Be the PM you led people to believe you are, follow the path of public ownership favoured by the rest of the world, and end a decades-old scam that is propped up by a pack of lies.”
Responding to rumours around its position, a government spokesperson said that Mr Burnham remains committed to seeing the essentials, including water, under “stronger public control”.
While there was no commitment to special administration, they did say they were bringing “tougher regulation, stronger enforcement and greater accountability”.
The spokesperson added: "Our water industry has not been working for people for far too long.
“That's why this government is looking at how we can give the public more control and help keep bills as low as possible.”
Charlie Maynard, MP for Witney called Mr Burnham’s position ‘not good enough’.
The Liberal Democrat – who previously represented the public interest in a court battle over an investor bailout for Thames Water – called the prime minister “good at saying nice words and then backing away from them”.
He added: “We’ve got lenders to the company – foreign hedge funds, in large part – telling the British government what it must do and threatening to sue if they don't get their way.
“Burnham needs to stand up and defend customers' interests rather than handing over Thames Water lock, stock and barrel.
“The Government must put Thames Water into Special Administration (i.e. bankruptcy), write down its debt, and get the company into a sensible financial shape.”
Following this, he argued that the company should come out of administration as a “mutual” so it is owned by its 16 million customers.
The leader of the Oxfordshire Conservatives, Liam Walker, was cautious about public ownership.
He said: “I would have concerns that we could just go from shouting at Thames Water to shouting at Andy Burnham instead.”
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The biggest priority, he explained, should be upgrading the infrastructure so rivers aren’t being polluted, something that he argued was particularly important in west Oxfordshire considering the number of homes planned.
Mr Walker added: “We need a solution that tackles the debt, holds those responsible for pollution properly to account and, above all, gets serious investment flowing into the infrastructure our communities desperately need.”
A spokesperson for Thames Water reiterated its opposition to special administration saying it would delay “urgently needed improvements”.
They added: “We are working constructively to reach an agreement that supports long-term financial stability and ensures the uninterrupted delivery of our biggest infrastructure upgrade in 150 years.”
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