The House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee has written to South East Water investors asking them to comment on board and executive leadership and explain the steps they will take to address water company failures raised in the Committee’s report on Failures at South East Water published on 1 May.
Chair of the Committee Rt Hon Mr Alistair Carmichael MP sent the same letter separately on 30 April to the Chair of the Utilities of Australia Pty Ltd, the Trustees of the NatWest Group Pension Scheme (cc’d to Rick Haythornthwaite, Chair, Natwest Group) and Louis Babineau Chair of Fédération des caisses Desjardins du Québec.
Referring to the publication of Committee’s report, the EFRA Chair began by saying:
“As a significant shareholder in South East Water, you have a direct interest in the company’s long-term viability, reputation and performance. You also have a responsibility to consider whether the current leadership is capable of addressing the scale of the problems we have identified by the Committee.”
He then went on to ask them to respond by 1 June 2026 at the latest to the following set of questions:
- What changes do you believe are now required to South East Water’s board or executive leadership?
- What assessment have you made of the tenability of South East Water’s current leadership, in light of the Committee’s findings?
- Do you consider the current leadership to be capable of restoring public, regulatory and investor confidence in the company?
- What action will you take to ensure that South East Water has the governance, capability and accountability required to deliver a reliable service to its customers?
- What steps will you take, as a shareholder, to ensure that South East Water addresses the failures identified in the Committee’s report?
He concluded by saying that customers, regulators and Parliament needed to see “clear evidence that the company’s owners recognise the seriousness of the situation and are prepared to act.
“The Committee would like to underline that the problems at South East Water should not be treated as matters of operational inconvenience, but as symptoms of deeper weaknesses in leadership, planning and accountability.”
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