The UK’s biggest water utilities have paid owners £50 million despite billions of liters of water leaking from power pipes every day, bans on water cannons and the public anger about sewage being dumped into the river.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal that bloated pay plans have been awarded over the past three years by dozens of the biggest companies. More than half of that brought their executives at least £1m last year despite a cost-of-living crisis fueled by soaring household bills.
They include Southern Water, which has imposed a ban on water pipes and filling swimming pools since Friday, and Thames Water, which warned that restrictions may be in place.
The Environment Agency says prolonged dry weather across most of Britain is an ‘early stage of drought’, which means bans will be more widespread.
The Environment Agency says prolonged dry weather across most of Britain is the ‘early stage of a drought’, which means bans will be more widespread
Campaigners have complained that leaks on the grid and failure to address dwindling water reserves mean Britain is not prepared for drier periods.
Last week, water companies leaked up to a quarter of their daily supply – nearly 2.4 billion liters.
Of the 12 companies investigated by The Mail on Sunday, the highest-paid chief executive was Severn Trent’s Liv Garfield, who has received £9.8m over the past three years.
Following her was United Utilities’ Steve Mogford, with £9m. Thames Water paid former director Steve Robertson and his replacement Sarah Bentley a total of £3.4 million.
Severn Trent, United Utilities and Thames account for almost half of the £50m total.
They are facing growing public anger over wastewater being pumped into rivers. Over a three-year period, there have been more than one million discharges of wastewater into UK rivers, with the scale of the problem growing.
Earlier this month, the Environment Agency criticized water companies for their polluting record.
The Government agency called last year’s incident the ‘worst incident we’ve seen in years’. Emma Howard Boyd, who leads the company, said executives and investors have been ‘deservedly rewarded while the environment takes a toll’.
She issued a damning report calling for water company bosses responsible for the most serious incidents to face jail time.
“It is appalling that the efficiency of water utilities in tackling pollution has hit a new low,” she said.
‘We intend to cause them too much pain if we continue like this.’
Luke Hildyard, director at the High Pay Center, downsized the water industry’s wages. He said that water owners are paid as ‘businessmen’ when doing the work of a ‘public servant’, adding: ‘Water is the common good. You don’t have to be a particularly good salesman to convince people to drink or wash in it.
‘These are examples of how we value people in executive roles. They get a much larger share of their wages than they can give others. ‘
Campaigner and former pop singer Feargal Sharkey has become a fierce critic of the water company’s failures. He told The Mail on Sunday that bonuses given to bosses ‘simply reinforce the idea that it pays to pollute’.
Many UK companies claim their environmental and operational records are improving. However, their bosses are paid much better than their counterparts in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, which are structured differently and do not operate for profit.
Sarah Venning, chief executive of Northern Ireland Water, the lowest paid of the dozens, received £215,000 last year. Scottish Water’s Douglas Millican earned £558,000.
