It’s clear that our water system just isn’t working.
Now here’s the thing: this government *has* made progress. Last year we brought in new laws to improve our waterways for good: blocking bonuses for bosses who pollute our waterways; bringing criminal charges against persistent rulebreakers; automatic and severe penalties for wrongdoing; and measures to strengthen regulation.
But there’s more to do. We won’t solve any of the bigger challenges until we’re honest, and admit that a water system driven by aggressive pursuit of profit doesn’t serve the interests of billpayers or help protect our waterways.
That’s why at a Clean Water South event this morning, I told water bosses directly that water companies should be brought into public ownership. Andy Burnham has also talked about giving communities greater public control over essential services like water, energy and transport, and that’s the right direction.
But I also recognise that we need to be pragmatic. Water is not currently in public ownership. And those problems facing our rivers, our water supply and our infrastructure cannot simply be put on hold while we have that wider political argument.
So, in the absence of the ownership change that I would like to see, I want the system we have today to work as effectively, transparently and accountably as it possibly can.
That’s why events like Clean Water South are important. These are a series of cross-sector events led by the University of Southampton that brings together academics, industry, regulators, charities and communities to tackle water quality challenges across southern England. There are some really strong ideas to come from today’s event, including a National Water Data and Standards Platform, and I was pleased to have the opportunity to open today’s discussions.
I’ll be taking these ideas back to Westminster to engage Ministers with the work Clean Water South has done.
But longer term, we cannot and should not avoid the hard choices needed to fix a model that has lost my trust, and the trust of so many people.