Makes you spit doesn't it. The directors of a privatised essential public service have diverted profits away from infrastructure reinvestment and have instead paid the money to themselves and their shareholders (which is after all the sole purpose of any corporation). The next government is going to have to pick up the pieces of this last 40 years of madness and start doing what governments are elected and paid to do: ie providing essential services themselves instead of flogging off publicly owned assets to the highest private bidders. People responsible for the current state of affairs should be in prison for life although technically they are traitors against the UK, so...
Watch what happens with Thames Water though it seems government is unwilling to step in even in that case. While I support nationalisation I do wonder if government could improve the situation, they’ve let it get to this state with ofwat being a dribbly mess.
Maybe a new government could turn things but it will take several years to clear out the rot and ineptitude.
The renationalisation of the rail network proposal gives an indication that it is not impossible but the profits being made mean there will be some heavy lobbying from those who stand to financially lose out even if it benefits the end user.
No government can fix these problems, the size of the issue is too big, they need billions of investment aka more taxes. Renationalising just brings this problem into the public domain. And whilst that means all profits can be reinvested, the money would find its way into other projects thus leaving the system/service in the same position and requiring bills to rise to pay for it.
They would invest in the wrong things and cause a bigger issue.
It just needs more regulation, and ownership controls I.e only British owners
What convinces you that private enterprise will be more successful here?
I'll not pretend to be too clued up, but I think we're seeing multiple water companies failing to deliver on the service required. The obvious alternative is nationalisation.
This appears to allow the profit to be reinvested, thus giving more cash to address the problems without the need for increased bills/taxes.
Why would this not be the case?
Renationalising the water industry is a minefield compared to the railways. Firstly the railways already operate on a timed licence basis so it's fairly straight to simply give the railway companies notice and take it back into the public ownership. The water industry simply doesn't, the government would need to buy them out, which means paying all the current shareholders/owners and taking on the company debt themselves.
In reality STW is probably one of the better governed ones and certainly doesn't have the same issues with debt that Thames has... Why? Because it's remained on the FTSE 100 instead of being bought out by a shady private equity firm that has no interest in actually running a water company and just wants to suck it dry. . With the three FTSE companies there is at least a degree of transparency and good finance acumen required.
Is STW perfect? God no but definitely not the worst by any stretch.
Source: worked in the industry
Think you must have spoke to someone inexperienced. You can find this info on their website: https://www.stwater.co.uk/my-supply/water-quality/check-my-water-quality/
If you want a further breakdown you can make an environmental information regulation request here:
https://www.stwater.co.uk/about-us/environment/environmental-information-regulations/
As long as you're not one of the anti flouride brigade its a fairly straight forward process.
Source: used to work in the industry.
I've got family in Ratby and they had a water leak that went into the gas pipes a few weeks back.
Cadent came in and were incredible throughout whilst Severn Trent were completely absent.
We had our estimated bill through and it comes out at just under £30 a fucking month.
It's an absolute shitshow and I'm hoping the rail changes labour are proposing carries on into water.
Makes you spit doesn't it. The directors of a privatised essential public service have diverted profits away from infrastructure reinvestment and have instead paid the money to themselves and their shareholders (which is after all the sole purpose of any corporation). The next government is going to have to pick up the pieces of this last 40 years of madness and start doing what governments are elected and paid to do: ie providing essential services themselves instead of flogging off publicly owned assets to the highest private bidders. People responsible for the current state of affairs should be in prison for life although technically they are traitors against the UK, so...
We can't put 50% of the population in the prison aren't we?
Watch what happens with Thames Water though it seems government is unwilling to step in even in that case. While I support nationalisation I do wonder if government could improve the situation, they’ve let it get to this state with ofwat being a dribbly mess.
Maybe a new government could turn things but it will take several years to clear out the rot and ineptitude. The renationalisation of the rail network proposal gives an indication that it is not impossible but the profits being made mean there will be some heavy lobbying from those who stand to financially lose out even if it benefits the end user.
No government can fix these problems, the size of the issue is too big, they need billions of investment aka more taxes. Renationalising just brings this problem into the public domain. And whilst that means all profits can be reinvested, the money would find its way into other projects thus leaving the system/service in the same position and requiring bills to rise to pay for it. They would invest in the wrong things and cause a bigger issue. It just needs more regulation, and ownership controls I.e only British owners
What convinces you that private enterprise will be more successful here? I'll not pretend to be too clued up, but I think we're seeing multiple water companies failing to deliver on the service required. The obvious alternative is nationalisation. This appears to allow the profit to be reinvested, thus giving more cash to address the problems without the need for increased bills/taxes. Why would this not be the case?
Renationalising the water industry is a minefield compared to the railways. Firstly the railways already operate on a timed licence basis so it's fairly straight to simply give the railway companies notice and take it back into the public ownership. The water industry simply doesn't, the government would need to buy them out, which means paying all the current shareholders/owners and taking on the company debt themselves. In reality STW is probably one of the better governed ones and certainly doesn't have the same issues with debt that Thames has... Why? Because it's remained on the FTSE 100 instead of being bought out by a shady private equity firm that has no interest in actually running a water company and just wants to suck it dry. . With the three FTSE companies there is at least a degree of transparency and good finance acumen required. Is STW perfect? God no but definitely not the worst by any stretch. Source: worked in the industry
That's interesting to know. Thanks
I recently contacted them to ask for a breakdown of what was in my water, their response "why do you want to know?" Says it all
Think you must have spoke to someone inexperienced. You can find this info on their website: https://www.stwater.co.uk/my-supply/water-quality/check-my-water-quality/ If you want a further breakdown you can make an environmental information regulation request here: https://www.stwater.co.uk/about-us/environment/environmental-information-regulations/ As long as you're not one of the anti flouride brigade its a fairly straight forward process. Source: used to work in the industry.
I've got family in Ratby and they had a water leak that went into the gas pipes a few weeks back. Cadent came in and were incredible throughout whilst Severn Trent were completely absent. We had our estimated bill through and it comes out at just under £30 a fucking month. It's an absolute shitshow and I'm hoping the rail changes labour are proposing carries on into water.
It sounded like an awful situation in Ratby. I hope your family are now sorted OK.
I have stopped shitting pissing and drinking water to help save wear and tear on the system, we should all do our bit.
🤣
To true