Labour MP Accuses Environment Secretary of Misleading Parliament Over '£100bn Cost' of Nationalising Water
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A Labour MP has accused the Environment Secretary of misleading Parliament for claiming that nationalising the water sector in England would cost £100 billion for the Treasury.
The figure amounts to roughly the annual spend of the Department for Education, though nationalisation would be a one-off move.
On Monday in the House of Commons, Labour's Environment Sec Steve Reed brushed off Labour left-winger Clive Lewis' call to nationalise the water sector, in a debate on the landmark Cunliffe Review into the scandal-hit industry.
Reed said: "We have to take a rational, not ideological, approach to tackling this problem. Nationalising the water companies would cost £100 billion.
"Those are not figures, as I have seen my honourable friend claim, from the water companies; they are provided by officials in my Department under the influence of nobody externally."
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He added: "To pay that money - £100 billion - we would have to take it away from public services, such as the national health service and education, to hand it to the owners of the companies that have been polluting our waterways. That makes no sense to me and it makes no sense to the public. Frankly, I am surprised that it makes any sense to him."
The Department for the Environment, Food, Rural Affairs (Defra) has now confirmed to Byline Times that the Government is using the (soon to be abolished) regulator Ofwat's Regulatory Capital Value (RCV) calculations as the basis for monitoring the cost of nationalising the sector.
Ofwat's latest figures for water companies in England and Wales put the RCV of the sector at around £106 billion, at the end of the 2024/25 financial year.
Defra says the RCV reflects the value of water companies' assets and therefore provides a 'reliable cost' for any change in ownership, including moving to a nationalised model.
The independent Consumer Council for Water has previously come to a similar conclusion.
But Norwich South Labour MP Clive Lewis says the figures are misleading - because they do not account for the amount of financial distress the water companies are facing, or what shareholders could be forced to accept.
The RCV value of Thames Water, according to Ofwat, is currently £21 billion.
But the firm is on the brink of collapse and could be taken over by ministers under a so-called Special Administration Regime, a form of temporary nationalisation.
Only in June private equity firm KKR pulled out of a £4bn rescue bid to acquire a major stake. Thames Water is in £20bn of debt despite siphoning billions of pounds to shareholders in recent years. (Thames Water was also revealed as England's worst polluter this month, with the firm responsible for 33 or the 75 most serious pollution incide
Packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, and features
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A Labour MP has accused the Environment Secretary of misleading Parliament for claiming that nationalising the water sector in England would cost £100 billion for the Treasury.
The figure amounts to roughly the annual spend of the Department for Education, though nationalisation would be a one-off move.
On Monday in the House of Commons, Labour's Environment Sec Steve Reed brushed off Labour left-winger Clive Lewis' call to nationalise the water sector, in a debate on the landmark Cunliffe Review into the scandal-hit industry.
Reed said: "We have to take a rational, not ideological, approach to tackling this problem. Nationalising the water companies would cost £100 billion.
"Those are not figures, as I have seen my honourable friend claim, from the water companies; they are provided by officials in my Department under the influence of nobody externally."
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He added: "To pay that money - £100 billion - we would have to take it away from public services, such as the national health service and education, to hand it to the owners of the companies that have been polluting our waterways. That makes no sense to me and it makes no sense to the public. Frankly, I am surprised that it makes any sense to him."
The Department for the Environment, Food, Rural Affairs (Defra) has now confirmed to Byline Times that the Government is using the (soon to be abolished) regulator Ofwat's Regulatory Capital Value (RCV) calculations as the basis for monitoring the cost of nationalising the sector.
Ofwat's latest figures for water companies in England and Wales put the RCV of the sector at around £106 billion, at the end of the 2024/25 financial year.
Defra says the RCV reflects the value of water companies' assets and therefore provides a 'reliable cost' for any change in ownership, including moving to a nationalised model.
The independent Consumer Council for Water has previously come to a similar conclusion.
But Norwich South Labour MP Clive Lewis says the figures are misleading - because they do not account for the amount of financial distress the water companies are facing, or what shareholders could be forced to accept.
The RCV value of Thames Water, according to Ofwat, is currently £21 billion.
But the firm is on the brink of collapse and could be taken over by ministers under a so-called Special Administration Regime, a form of temporary nationalisation.
Only in June private equity firm KKR pulled out of a £4bn rescue bid to acquire a major stake. Thames Water is in £20bn of debt despite siphoning billions of pounds to shareholders in recent years. (Thames Water was also revealed as England's worst polluter this month, with the firm responsible for 33 or the 75 most serious pollution incide
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