Thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this:

From the Financial Times today:

Five of Britain’s water companies spent £32.4mn on an appeal to the competition regulator that resulted in the utilities being able to raise customer bills even higher.

Anglian Water, Northumbrian Water, South East Water, Southern Water and Wessex Water argued that regulator Ofwat’s decision to allow them to increase consumer bills by an average of 24 per cent before inflation by 2030 was insufficient to cover their costs and attract investors to the industry.

The appeal to the Competition and Markets Authority cost Anglian Water £9mn; South East Water £9mn; Southern Water £7.6mn; Northumbrian Water £3.7mn; and Wessex Water £3.1mn, according to documents released by the Competition and Markets Authority.

The CMA also spent £5.2mn and Ofwat £3.2mn, taking the total spent on the appeal to more than £40mn. https://archive.ph/iKuMW#selection-1963.0-1983.100

So to be clear, lawyers acting on behalf of the five privately-owned English water companies charged them £32.4 million to help them win a court case against the two bodies that regulate the prices on behalf of the consumer. As a result they can now raise prices by 24% plus any increases due to inflation.

Lawyers working for the two regulatory bodies charged them £8.4 million.

In the end the ordinary members of the public will ultimately find all of that added to their tax burden, on top of massively increased water charges, for dirty water and to pay shareholders and executive bonuses.

What will happen in Scotland?

None of that.

Current water bills in Scotland are the lowest’ of any water company in the UK and it’s 10 times better quality

The average water bill last year in Scotland was £490¹ but in other parts of the UK:

• Southern Water: £703
• South West Water: £686
• Wessex Water: £669
• Anglian Water: £626
• Thames Water: £639
• Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water: £639
• United Utilities: £598
• Yorkshire Water: £602
• Severn Trent Water: £556
• Northumbrian Water: £506
• Hafren Dyfrdwy: £590²

Sources:

1. https://wics.scot/latest/scottish-water-announces-2025-26-charges
2. https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/publication/household-average-bills-information-for-2025-26

What about quality, thinking about poisoned Devon villagers, Thames rowers and Lake Windermere tourists, suffering in recent weeks and years?

How clean then is Scotland’s water?

A quick factcheck tells us:

The flows and levels in Scotland’s water environment are currently at good or better condition in 90% of rivers, lochs and groundwaters. This is up from 88% when we published the second RBMPs. https://www.thenational.scot/news/20833401.scotland-compare-england-water-beaches-closed-sewage-spills-south/

Why is this the case?

Does Scotland show there is an alternative to this system? Scottish Water is a wholly public entity directly accountable to the Scottish Parliament. It offers lower bills than any of the English companies, and invests around 35% more in infrastructure. This is delivering results for the Scottish taxpayer and public.https://www.environment.gov.scot/our-environment/water/scotland-s-freshwater/

And England’s water? NINE times more likely to contain sewage

From the Guardian on 12th August 2023:

‘An utter disgrace’: 90% of England’s most precious river habitats blighted by raw sewage and farming pollution. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/12/an-utter-disgrace-90-of-englands-most-precious-river-habitats-blighted-by-raw-sewage-and-farming-pollution

This requires little effort.

England above, Scotland below:

The flows and levels in Scotland’s water environment are currently at good or better condition in 90% of rivers, lochs and groundwaters. This is up from 88% when we published the second RBMPs (River Basin Management Planning).

https://www.environment.gov.scot/our-environment/water/scotland-s-freshwater/#:~:text=The%20flows%20and%20levels%20in,we%20published%20the%20second%20RBMPs