Bonus payments to water company CEOs rises to £9.1m despite record sewage dumps - with debt-riddled Thames Water doubling payouts to executives
Bonuses to water company bosses rose this year to £9.1m despite record sewage discharges.
Executives from English and Welsh water firms received a total of £9,126,858 in the 2023/2024 financial year, up from £9,012,777 a year earlier, according to analysis of company filings done by the Liberal Democrats. When base pay and pension contributions are factored in, total payments to executives reached more than £20m - slightly less than the year before when full remuneration was £20.2m.
Pension contributions also increased to £1.68m from £1.55m. Base pay alone for water company seniors was more than £9.2m, less than the £9.7m recorded 12 months before.
CEOs receiving an increase in bonuses comes amid a record number of sewage discharges into UK waterways. Latest figures from the Environment Agency showed discharges of untreated sewage by water companies doubled from 1.8 million hours of discharges in 2022 to a record 3.6 million in 2023 while 464,000 individual spills were recorded - up from 301,000.
The biggest bonuses were paid by Severn Trent, who gave three executives £3.36m in bonuses, an increase from £3.319m year-on-year. Thames Water almost doubled its payouts to executives, from £746,000 in 2021-22 to £1.3m in 2023-24, despite its CEO quitting halfway through the year and the firm facing collapse due to huge debts.
Thames Water, which has more than £15bn of debts, is understood to have enough cash left to run its operations for only eight months. Managers at Thames have booked dates at the high court in November to try to gain court approval to change repayment terms as part of its wider effort to stave off falling into a form of temporary renationalisation.
The Liberal Democrats are calling for an immediate ban on bonus payments at all water companies while sewage dumping continues. The party says it is pushing for a parliamentary vote to ban bonuses by tabling an amendment to the government's water (special measures) bill.
The bill has been introduced as part of the government's efforts to crack down on pollution and financial mismanagement in the water industry. Proposals in the bill include the ability to jail executives and increased compensation for customers.