Bonus payments to water company bosses rise to £9.1m amid sewage scandal

Bonuses to water company bosses rose this year to £9.1m - despite record sewage discharges and financial woes at some utilities.

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.

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Base pay alone for water company seniors was more than £9.2m, less than the £9.7m recorded 12 months before.

It comes as a record number of sewage discharges went into British 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.

Under current rules, water companies can discharge sewage from storm overflows, but only during periods of heavy rain and under strictly permitted conditions.

Meanwhile, the UK's biggest water provider Thames Water faces nationalisation with experts saying the company is "uninvestable" as shareholders pull their investments, while its holding firm has defaulted on some of its £16bn debt pile.

Previous chief executive Sarah Bentley resigned just a day before news of a possible collapse of Thames Water came to light.

Who paid the most?

Despite the tough financial times, the utility was one of the companies that increased bonuses.

Bonus payouts nearly doubled from £746,000 in 2022/2023 to £1.26m in 2023/2024.

The biggest bonuses were paid by Severn Trent, who gave three executives £3.36m in bonuses, an increase from £3.319m year-on-year.

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Calls for more regulation

The Liberal Democrats are calling for an immediate ban on bonus payments at all water companies while sewage outflows continue.

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.