The Government has confirmed that paying bonuses in the form of retention payments to senior executives are not an an option for Thames Water, following comments by water company Chair Sir Adrian Montague when he appeared before the House of Commons Select Committee for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) last week.

For the second time in four months, Moody's Ratings has yet again downgraded Thames Water to Caa3 from Caa1, taking its Corporate Family Rating (CFR) further into junk territory – in September Moody’s downgraded it to Caa1 from Ba2, which is considered a junk rating.