Responding to Ofwat’s announcement of planned water bill rises over the next five years, co-leader of the Green Party, Adrian Ramsay, said:
“England has one of the only fully privatised water networks in the world, and we are all paying a high price for this.
“Privatisation has resulted in £80bn being leaked out to shareholders in dividends since 1990 and some water companies paying out more in dividends than they’ve made in profit. This shortfall has been made up through borrowing, leaving companies in serious debt.
“Meanwhile, water companies were responsible for releasing raw sewage for 3.6m hours last year, double the amount recorded the year before.
“Yet despite this record of public failure and private reward, water companies have pressed Ofwat to allow eye-watering rises in water bills so they can give even larger returns to private investors.
“The way to end this model of failure and ensure money is invested in improving the quality of services provided, infrastructure improvements, and protecting our environment is to bring water back into public ownership.”