Privatisation not the problem for England's water, says author of review

"The government responded to Cunliffe's recommendations in a white paper this week, which adopts many of his suggestions including a supervisory model, more technical knowledge in a new super-regulator, and turnaround regimes to make water companies fix problems quickly. He was told not to consider nationalising the industry in his review. England and Wales are the only countries in the world with a privatised water system. This system has come under huge criticism as companies have paid billions in dividends while failing to invest in pipes and reservoirs, so many have called for nationalisation."

"But Cunliffe said: You can't fix these problems with one simple solution. If we nationalised the system tomorrow, we wouldn't necessarily solve all the problems that we have to solve. He said the report looked at systems around the world and that privatisation was not the problem. He said: We didn't think the problems the sector was facing could just be laid at the door of privatisation and profit. We pushed very hard for evidence that shows that other ownership structures are systemically better, and the results were mixed. We didn't have results that conclusively showed"

Privatisation is not identified as the sole cause of water sector failings and no single fix such as nationalisation will resolve systemic issues. Problems include sewage pollution, repeated tap-water outages and inadequate drought preparedness. Recommendations call for making it easier to remove failing water CEOs, creating a supervisory model, adding technical expertise to a new super-regulator, and implementing turnaround regimes to force rapid company remediation. Many of these measures are reflected in government policy. England and Wales remain the only countries with a privatised water system, where large dividends have coincided with underinvestment in infrastructure.

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