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The chief executive of South East Water (SEW) should not receive a bonus following a recent incident that left tens of thousands of customers without water, according to the Environment Secretary. David Hinton earned a bonus of £115,000 last year in addition to his £400,000 salary, and this year’s bonus is expected to more than double despite the company’s ongoing service failures and investigations.
Last week, up to 30,000 homes in southern England experienced water supply outages, leading to an unprecedented investigation by the regulator Ofwat. Some households faced water shortages for the second time in six weeks, and the disruption before Christmas caused school closures and long queues for bottled water. South East Water also faced criticism for poor communication and repeatedly missing deadlines for restoring supply.
In response to the crisis, Hinton was summoned to Parliament to answer questions from MPs. Pressure has been mounting from politicians across parties calling for his resignation, with both the Prime Minister and Environment Secretary expressing concern about the company’s handling of the situation. One regulator told MPs that SEW was effectively “flying blind” during the weeks leading up to the crisis. The water company has acknowledged increased strain due to population growth in the region.
The Environment Secretary’s statements come just before the government announces significant reforms to the water sector, including the planned replacement of the regulator Ofwat with a new watchdog. The industry has faced widespread criticism over rising bills and environmental issues in recent years. While water bills are set to rise until 2030 to fund improvements, stricter measures have been introduced to hold companies accountable. In November, six companies were barred from awarding executive bonuses due to serious pollution problems, although South East Water was not among them. Additionally, most water companies were ordered earlier to refund over £260 million to customers for poor performance
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