The upcoming scrapping of Ofwat in favour of a tougher water regulator has been celebrated in Reading, with hopes it will end the ‘sewage scandal’.
The Water Services Regulation Authority, or Ofwat, was founded in 1989 to regulate the privatised water and sewage industry in England and Wales.
In recent years, it has been heavily criticised for allowing companies such as Thames Water to discharge sewage that it is unable to treat into natural waterways.
These discharges often occur from an influx of water coming into the sewage system from heavy rainfall and storms.
In the Reading area, three waterways experienced 1,213 hours worth of wastewater discharge earlier this year.
Thames Water has been fined £122.7 million by Ofwat for sewage spills and dividend payments since 2017.
Ofwat is due to be scrapped in favour of a new water regulator by the Labour government.
The decision has been celebrated by the Liberal Democrats, who have been campaigning for Ofwat to be replaced since November 2022.
Councillor Meri O’Connell (Liberal Democrats, Tilehurst) said: “I am pleased that action is finally being taken to tackle sewage dumping and clean up our rivers and beaches, after years of the Conservatives turning a blind eye to this scandal.
“The Liberal Democrats have led the way in demanding tougher action against sewage pollution, soaring bills and bloated bonuses for water company bosses.
“I hear from countless people who were furious about the state of our local rivers/beaches and the water companies being let off the hook.
“This fight is far from over. The government must now get on with setting up a new, stronger regulator to hold water companies to account.
“I will be relentlessly fighting to ensure sewage spills are stopped, bills brought down, and our waterways cleaned up for everyone to enjoy in future.”
During the general election campaign last year, Ross Mackinnon, the Conservative runner-up candidate for the Reading West and Mid Berkshire constituency, argued that renationalising water companies would not solve the issue of discharges.
The Conservative manifesto in 2024 pledged to ban executive bonuses if a company has committed a serious criminal breach, and use fines from water companies to invest in river restoration projects.
The announcement that Ofwat will be scrapped was made by Steve Reed, the environment secretary and Labour MP for Streatham and Croydon North last month.
Mr Reed said: “Water companies have been allowed to profit at the expense of the British people, when they should have been investing to fix our broken water pipes.
“A broken regulatory system let them get away with this.
“Ofwat has failed to protect customers from water companies’ mismanagement of their hard-won money.”
