20-05-2025
Thames Water bonuses at threat as minister says 'profiting from failure' over
Following a recent committee meeting at which the chair of Thames Water backed large bonuses, the government has pledged to stop 'profiting from failure'.
Speaking to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) select committee of MPs (May 13), Sir Adrian Montague admitted that the UK's largest water company was letting its customers down, but refused to apologise for its bonus structure.
Already the chief executive of Thames Water, Chris Weston, has been criticised for accepting a £195,000 bonus for his first three months in the job last year, and senior bosses could receive £1 million on top of their annual salaries in the coming months.
Despite this at the committee meeting Sir Adrian stood firm, saying: 'We live in a competitive marketplace, and we have to provide the right sort of packages to these people otherwise the head-hunters come knocking.'
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Sir Adrian Montague, chair of Thames Water, at the committee (Image: Parliament) His declaration infuriated water campaigners who questioned how this was morally justified, considering the company's poor record in terms of water pollution as well as its precarious financial situation which saw it recently take another high-cost loan.
Ash Smith, the founder of West Oxfordshire-based campaign group Windrush Against Sewage Pollution, said: 'The owners of that company are extracting cash in obscene ways.
'They are focused on maintaining that bonus culture and ripping off the public at all costs. It is disgraceful and he should resign.'
Meanwhile, former Undertones singer and leading water campaigner Feargal Sharkey demanded that Thames Water's bosses are sacked.
Writing in the Daily Mail, he said: 'At the very least, the bonuses must stop.
Feargal Sharkey has said Thames Water bosses should be sacked (Image: Peter Byrne/PA) 'If you preside over record leaks, river pollution, rising bills and terrible service, you should not be rewarded. You should be sacked.'
Now, it seems the Government might step in with the Water (Special Measures) Bill giving the regulator Ofwat powers to ban bonuses when water companies fail to meet high environmental standards.
These will come into force from June, meaning – according to a Government source – Thames Water's bosses could have their bonuses blocked next month, as well as having to return any paid for the last financial year.
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Environment Secretary Steve Reed (Image: Aaron Chown / PA) Speaking on the measures, the Environment Secretary Steve Reed said that water companies such as Thames Water had managed to get away with dumping sewage into rivers while pocketing millions of pounds in bonuses.
For context, The Oxford Sewage Treatment Works has been pumping waste into the River Thames for a total of one in every five minutes over the past six months.
Mr Reed said: 'That ends now. The Government will ban the payment of unfair bonuses for polluting water bosses.
'The days of profiting from failure are over.'
