Stroud MP Dr Simon Opher is backing calls for the water industry to be brought back into public ownership, arguing that the current system is failing consumers and the environment.
MPs have the opportunity this week to debate the merits of holding a referendum on taking the industry back into public ownership. Dr Opher said the public wanted change after more than 30 years of privatisation.
Concerns over pollution and water bills
Making the case for reform, Dr Opher pointed to pollution in the Frome in Stroud. He said the river had recorded nearly 3,000 hours of “spillage” during the year.
“The status quo simply isn’t working, and the public want to see change,”
Dr Opher also criticised the level of money paid to water-company shareholders since privatisation. He said companies had paid out £85 billion in dividends over more than three decades, while consumers faced higher bills and were expected to help pay for the clean-up of pollution.
He highlighted Severn Trent as an example. According to Dr Opher, the company was fined a record £4.6 million in pollution levies earlier this year. He said it nevertheless found the money to pay its chief executive up to £4.8 million in a single year.
“That simply isn’t right at a time when bills are rising, and our rivers continue to get polluted.”
The figures and criticisms were presented by Dr Opher in support of changing the way the industry is owned and run. The supplied report does not provide independent verification of the pollution, dividend, fine, executive-pay or public-opinion claims.
Different models under consideration
Dr Opher said public ownership would not have to follow one fixed structure. One option would be to place failing water companies into Special Administration before transferring them into public ownership.
He also suggested a regional model in which the infrastructure would be publicly owned while services were delivered locally. Another possibility would be mutual organisations, giving customers and workers a direct say in how their water company was managed.
International hybrid arrangements could provide a further option, he said. Such models combine public ownership with services delivered by public, mutual or private organisations.
For Dr Opher, the important test is whether any new arrangement can deliver clean water, lower costs and public accountability. The proposals remain options described by the Stroud MP; the source does not report that a new ownership system has been agreed.
Andy Burnham meeting
Dr Opher said he raised the issue with Labour mayoral candidate and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham at a Parliamentary Labour Party meeting the previous week.
He said he urged Mr Burnham to take the industry into public hands. According to Dr Opher, Mr Burnham confirmed that public ownership was a priority for him and that an announcement should be expected soon.
“After decades of failure, that cannot come soon enough.”
The source gives no further details about the proposed announcement, its timing or the form any future policy would take. It also contains conflicting publication information, listing an update date of September 17, 2026 and a byline date of September 19, 2026.
