National News Yourrrrrr s**t!💩💧🚽

[QR]

If you are interested and have 26 mins to spare this podcast starts to unpick some of the issues around the water industry's regular sewage dump into our rivers. Taking on debt to pay shareholders whilst letting the infrastructure to rot. All overseen by the Environment Agency and Ofwat.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1479370179935182850

 

[bashamwonderland]

If you are interested and have 26 mins to spare this podcast starts to unpick some of the issues around the water industry's regular sewage dump into our rivers. Taking on debt to pay shareholders whilst letting the infrastructure rot. All overseen by the Environment Agency and Ofwat.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1479370179935182850

Should be a crime.

 

[Sheik djibouti]

All while the government tied the regulators hands and, in the case of the Environment Agency, cut their GIA funding significantly in the last 10+ years.

A good response here from Defra and the EA as to how they are trying to respond: https://rivercide.tv/statements-in-response.html

EDIT: this is also what you get when you privatise nationally important infrastructure and allow profit and dividends to overshadow capital investment.

"yeah, but won't somebody think about our pension funds"

For the sake of balance, it is worth noting that Thames Water haven't paid any shareholder dividends for about 4 years now iirc.....

 

[Big Ron]

Since 1991 the water companies have paid over £60bn in dividends and about half of that in maintenance and upgrading of the infrastructure, whilst at the same time accumulating £50bn of debt.

 

[Sheik djibouti]

Since 1991 the water companies have paid over £60bn in dividends and about half of that in maintenance and upgrading of the infrastructure, whilst at the same time accumulating £50bn of debt.

And how much more pressure has there been on that already creaking infrastructure in terms of housing and commercial/industrial development during that time?

Not a very sustainable model they've created is it?

 

[OUFCGav]

All while the government tied the regulators hands and, in the case of the Environment Agency, cut their GIA funding significantly in the last 10+ years.

A good response here from Defra and the EA as to how they are trying to respond: https://rivercide.tv/statements-in-response.html

EDIT: this is also what you get when you privatise nationally important infrastructure and allow profit and dividends to overshadow capital investment.

"yeah, but won't somebody think about our pension funds"

For the sake of balance, it is worth noting that Thames Water haven't paid any shareholder dividends for about 4 years now iirc.....

Yes, no "external dividends" - but they have paid dividends to "internal" holding companies (Kemble Water Group - Thames Water Limited is one of 7 companies in the group - it is a corporate debt structuring device to limit exposure).