Seven UK water companies gave bosses bonuses over £100,000 last year despite sewage spills

Seven of the UK’s nine water companies gave bonuses to their executives last year despite high levels of sewage being dumped into waterways.

Bonuses were worth a total of more than £1.35 million overall and was shared between 15 different executives across the sector in 2021-2022, analysis of water companies’ accounts by PoliticsHome found.

This was despite the fact that untreated sewage was released into rivers for more than 2.7 million hours that year.

The companies with the worst record on sewage dumping in the period were also among those receiving the highest bonuses for hitting targets that included protecting the environment, according to annual data released by the Environment Agency.

United Utilities awarded its executives a total of £372,892 in annual bonuses despite it being the company that dumped the most sewage into UK waterways in 2021.

Annual reports show that bonuses for executives at major companies are reliant on them hitting a broad range of internal targets, from shareholder returns and profits to environmental protections.

In some instances firms were able to meet environmental targets by packaging concerns around sewage dumping and water quality with other environmental metrics such as hitting net zero targets or improving customer relations, meaning the targets could be hit and bonuses paid out despite significant sewage dumping rates.

Which water company banked the biggest bonus?

Thames Water, which recorded the second lowest number of sewage dumps in 2021 at 14,713, awarded its CEO and CFO a total of £794,000 in annual bonuses last year - but none of its short term targets specifically related to the environment.

“Bonuses are tied to a range of stretching performance targets, and if we do not hit our targets, bonuses do not get paid,” a Thames Water spokesperson told Politics Home.

They added: “We have a long way to go – and we certainly can’t do it on our own – but the ambition is clear.”

United Utilities awards its executives a total of £372,892 in annual bonuses for effectively “maintaining and enhancing services for customers” - despite it being the company that dumped the most sewage into UK waterways in 2021 (the most recent data available).

United Utilities spilled sewage into English rivers 81,558 times that year, almost 11,000 times more than the second highest company.

Severn Trent executives received a total of £335,657, while South West water executives were paid a total of £297,000.

Severn Trent dumped sewage 59,684 times in 2021, the third highest amount, and South West 42,484 times, the fourth highest amount that year.

A spokesperson for South West stressed that neither executive received a bonus specifically related to the company’s pollution performance or the Environmental Performance Assessment conducted by the EA, Politics Home reported.

Wessex Water awarded its four leaders a total of £218,796 in bonuses for specifically “protecting and enhancing the environment”.

The water company dumped sewage into UK waterways 23,532 times in 2021 – the sixth highest of any water company.

Yorkshire Water, Northumbrian Water and Southern Water awarded executives less than £100,000 in environment bonuses.

They dumped sewage 70,062, 36,483 and 19,077 times respectively.

It does not mean these bosses took home less money than their counterparts, just that they didn’t package their environmental aims with other targets, for which they could have received additional bonuses.

A spokesperson for Southern Water said “directors had to deliver performance against plan” and that “every detail” of their bonus regime “is transparently disclosed” in its annual report.

The only company that chose not to award a bonus related to environmental targets was Anglian Water, which recorded 21,351 raw sewage dumps in 2021.

A spokesperson for Anglian Water said: “As an organisation with social and environmental purpose at its core, the remuneration of our senior managers is directly linked to company performance.

“Although we surpassed our regulatory and our own stretch targets in a number of critical areas, such as reducing leakage, our overall performance last year did not meet the levels we aspire to, so, as our customers would expect, all senior management and Director bonuses were significantly reduced, including that of our Chief Executive.”

Politics Home contacted the remaining five water companies for comment on the findings but none have responded.