Wessex Water faces fresh calls for public ownership after regulator exposes failures
A BCP councillor says public services should return to public hands after a regulator found Wessex Water failed to properly maintain its wastewater network
A BCP Green Party councillor has renewed demands for England’s water industry to be brought back into public ownership after Ofwat found Wessex Water had failed to properly maintain and upgrade its wastewater network.
Cllr Kate Salmon, who represents the Greens on Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, said the scandal highlighted the “dramatic failure” of water privatisation.
“Water is one of the most obvious examples of where privatisation has really dramatically failed us,” she said. “The vast majority of our rivers are significantly polluted and sewage discharges are a massive contributor to the decline in their ecological health.”
Her comments come after Ofwat confirmed that Wessex Water, which provides sewage services across Dorset, had proposed an £11m enforcement package in a bid to avoid a fine of up to £10m.
The company has been accused of allowing widespread leaks, failing to fix broken pipes and not modernising wastewater treatment sites.
South West Liberal Democrat MPs condemned the firm’s environmental record, saying: “Wessex Water has gotten away with environmental vandalism for far too long, carelessly polluting beaches and rivers throughout the South West with filthy sewage.
“No amount of money could atone for the damage already done, but we must ensure these reckless water companies put an end to sewage dumping and stop putting profit above people once and for all.”
Figures from the BCP Green Party suggest Wessex Water has paid more than £4.25bn to shareholders since privatisation.
Cllr Salmon told us the model is fundamentally broken: “Instead of investing in our water, privatisation has paid shareholders.
“There is absolutely no room for profit motivation in the provision of clean and safe water.”
Mid Dorset and North Poole MP Vikki Slade also backed calls for reform. “I am saddened but not surprised,” she said. “In England, almost a third of every water bill now goes towards servicing debt or paying dividends - that’s a scandal.”
Wessex Water’s proposed enforcement package includes sealing private sewer pipes, reducing spills at key storm overflows, installing new monitoring equipment and helping households better manage rainwater on their properties. The company insists none of the costs will be passed on to customers.
Cllr Salmon argues the measures fall well short of what is needed: “It feels a little hard to take that Wessex Water claims this is some sort of great scheme when it’s just the job they should have been doing in the first place.
“The only reason they’re doing it now is because Ofwat caught them failing.”
A spokesperson for Wessex Water said the company “regrets the impact” of its performance, adding that £300m will be invested in sewerage infrastructure by 2030.