Ofwat to look into legality of £1.3m in payments made to Yorkshire Water CEO
It comes after reports Yorkshire Water CEO Nicola Shaw received undisclosed pay - after promising not to take a bonus
Regulator Ofwat has been asked to look into previously undisclosed payments made to the Yorkshire Water CEO Nicola Shaw.
It's previously been reported she received £1.3m via an offshore company.
In the House of Commons earlier Environment Secretary Steve Reed confirmed the legality of the payments to see if they're an attempt to circumvent a ban on bonuses to water company bosses.
In response to a question by Doncaster Central MP Sally Jameson, Steve Reed said: "That payment has outraged customers, and I have asked Ofwat to assess its legality as a matter of urgency."
"I will not tolerate any company attempting to circumvent this Government’s ban on unfair bonuses through exorbitant salary increases, secret bonuses, payments through parent companies, or any other deception.
"If Ofwat finds that the rules have been broken, companies will face sanctions, including fines imposed at a level that will deter future abuses."
Yorkshire Water customers are facing a 41% increase in bills at a time when the company has been fined for repeated sewage and chemical spills.
Earlier this year the region's four Metro Mayors Tracy Brabin (West Yorkshire, Labour), Luke Campbell (East Yorkshire, Reform UK), Oliver Coppard (South Yorkshire, Labour) and David Skaith (North Yorkshire, Labour) wrote to the company, to call the award "wholly unacceptable".
A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said: “We recognise the strength of feeling that the issue has generated."
"Whilst the existence of this fee was already noted in Yorkshire Water’s annual reports, which are published on our website, we acknowledge that we should’ve been more transparent about these payments.
"We have now committed to disclosing the value of any Kelda related payments for our CEO and CFO as part of Yorkshire Water’s accounts in future.
“Our focus remains on improving performance and delivering better outcomes for customers, communities and the environment.
"With Nicola’s leadership and through her active shareholder engagement, investors have provided £500m of new investment to Yorkshire Water, with a further £600m committed by 31 March 2027, the largest single capital commitment in our history.
"Over the next five years we will invest £8.3bn -- around £3.2m every day -- to improve service, reduce pollution and modernise Yorkshire’s water network.
“Our focus is delivering better outcomes for customers, communities and the environment. We know trust will be earned through actions and performance, and we intend to demonstrate that.”