Following his successful campaign, local MP Alan Mak has welcomed an announcement by the water regulator OFWAT that rules on dividends paid out by water companies such as Southern Water will be tightened.
The new powers made possible through the Government’s landmark Environment Act, which Alan voted in favour of, mean that OFWAT will be able to stop the payment of dividends in certain circumstances. The regulator is now modifying licences to require water companies to take account of environmental performance and customer delivery when deciding whether to pay dividends. They will also be required to hold a strong credit rating and dividends payments could be stopped if their financial health is at risk.
Alan Mak MP said: “I’m delighted that Ofwat has listened to my campaign and taken action. Water companies such as Southern Water should not be paying out dividends unless their performance stacks up – both in protecting our local harbours and making sure residents receive a good service.”
The current Government has done more than any other to tackle the issue of sewage pollution. The Government’s Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan will require water companies to deliver the largest infrastructure programme in water company history. It was also the first to require water companies to comprehensively monitor discharges, increasing monitoring from approximately 7% of storm overflows in 2010 to 100% by the end of this year.
