Ban water company bosses’ bonuses until sewage discharges end
England's water company bosses have awarded themselves almost £27 million in bonuses over the past two years despite pumping out raw sewage into waterways 1,000 times a day, the Liberal Democrats have revealed.
Analysis of Companies House records by the Liberal Democrats shows that executives at England's water and sewage companies were paid £48 million in 2020 and 2021, including £27.6 million in bonuses, benefits and incentives.
The eye-watering executive pay packets and company profits were made despite the Environment Agency reporting nearly 772,000 sewage dumping events taking place in 2020 and 2021 alone, or over 1,000 per day.
The Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to ban new bonuses for water company executives until sewage offences are brought to an end. The party is also calling on water company bosses to hand back last year's bonuses and for the funds to be used to clean up rivers and lakes that have been polluted by sewage.
United Utilities, who were responsible for the most spills over 2020 and 2021, paid bonuses of nearly £6 million. Severn Trent awarded their execs £5.5 million in bonuses while dumping sewage 120,000 times. Meanwhile, Yorkshire Water, who dumped sewage 135,000 times, handed out bonuses of £3.3 million.
The Liberal Democrats have previously called for a Sewage Tax on the profits of water companies, to fund the cleaning up of waterways polluted by sewage. Analysis by the party suggests water companies made a staggering £2.7 billion in operating profits in 2020/21.
Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:
"The Conservatives are allowing water companies to pump raw sewage into our precious rivers and lakes while awarding themselves obscene bonuses. Just like the millions paid out to bankers during the financial crisis, the public will find this hard to stomach.
"Liberal Democrat plans for a sewage bonus ban would stop water company execs being paid a penny in bonuses more until our waterways are protected from sewage dumps. These bosses should be made to hand back the millions of pounds already received in bonuses to help clean up their mess.
"It's time to send a message to the Conservatives that they cannot let water company bosses get away with pumping raw sewage into our rivers and beaches any longer. Every vote for the Liberal Democrats in May is a vote for a strong local champion who will stand up for their local community, clean rivers and countryside."
Liberal Democrat analysis of Companies House records reveals how much each water company paid out in executive remunerations in 2020/2021.
Executive remuneration includes base pay and bonuses for senior level executives in each water company as listed on Companies House records.
Water Company Executive Remuneration Total - 2020 & 2021 | ||||
Company | Base Pay | Bonuses, Benefits and Incentives | Pension | Total Exec Remuneration per Company |
Anglian Water | £1,668,887 | £3,588,182 | £211,892 | £5,468,961 |
Northumbrian Water | £1,465,000 | £575,000 | £174,000 | £2,214,000 |
Severn Trent Water | £2,337,100 | £5,566,500 | £528,400 | £8,432,000 |
Southern Water | £1,460,500 | £1,719,500 | £245,200 | £3,425,200 |
South West Water | £1,129,000 | £2,804,000 | £259,000 | £4,192,000 |
Thames Water | £2,332,000 | £2,368,000 | £262,000 | £4,962,000 |
United Utilities | £2,405,000 | £5,990,000 | £516,000 | £8,911,000 |
Wessex Water | £1,672,000 | £775,000 | £194,000 | £2,641,000 |
Yorkshire | £1,682,000 | £3,298,000 | £304,000 | £5,284,000 |
Dwr Cymru / Welsh Water | £1,268,000 | £931,000 | £433,000 | £2,632,000 |
Total | £17,419,487 | £27,615,182 | £3,127,492 | £48,162,161 |
Companies house data on operating profits of water companies 2020/2021
Water Company | Area | Name of company - Companies House | Revenue (£m) | Operating Profit (£m) |
Anglian Water | East | Anglian Water Services Limited | 1,351.8 | 391.6 |
Northumbrian Water | North East | Northumbrian Water Limited | 758.4 | 195.0 |
Severn Trent Water | West & East Mids, Chester | Severn Trent Water Limited | 1,699.5 | 457.9 |
Southern Water | South East | Southern Water Services Ltd | 819.8 | 138.8 |
South West Water | South West | South West Water Limited | 543.8 | 198.3 |
Thames Water | Greater London, Thames Valley | Thames Water Utilities Limited | 2,106.7 | 488.8 |
United Utilities | North West | United Utilities Plc | 1,808.0 | 602.1 |
Wessex Water | South West | Wessex Water Services Ltd | 516.9 | 160.4 |
Yorkshire Water | Yorkshire and Humber | Yorkshire Water Services Ltd | 1,101.1 | 241.4 |
Total | 10,706.0 | 2,874.3 |
N.B. Dwr Cymru / Welsh Water is a not-for-profit company and therefore not included in this analysis
Data on sewage discharges from the Environment Agency
Water Company Sewage Discharges 2020 & 2021 | |||
Company | 2020 | 2021 | Total |
Anglian Water | 17,385 | 21,351 | 38,736 |
Northumbrian Water | 32,566 | 36,483 | 69,049 |
Severn Trent Water | 60,982 | 59,684 | 120,666 |
Southern Water | 19,782 | 19,077 | 38,859 |
South West Water | 42,053 | 42,484 | 84,537 |
Thames Water | 18,443 | 14,713 | 33,156 |
United Utilities | 113,940 | 81,588 | 195,528 |
Wessex Water | 28,964 | 23,524 | 52,488 |
Yorkshire | 65,083 | 70,062 | 135,145 |
Dwr Cymru / Welsh Water | 3,845 | 3,567 | 7,412 |
Total for all companies | 403,043 | 368,966 | 772,009 |
N.B Figures for Dwr Cymru are for discharges into English rivers only | |||
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