Letters: Households should not have to pick up the bill for water companies’ failings
Telegraph
23-05-20 00:01
The water companies that pollute the UK’s waterways should waive their entitlement to dividends until the problem had been fixed, according to a letter from Roger Lounds, published in The Daily Telegraph. Lounds wrote that it was “appalling” that consumers rather than shareholders were faced with costs stemming from the pollution. Efforts by water firms to reduce incidents of sewage discharge had been inadequate, Lounds said, yet prices had continued to escalate. Costs had routinely been passed on to customers by the water companies, he argued, adding, “having taken responsibility for causing the problem, the water companies and their shareholders need to accept responsibility for putting things right”. In similar letters, readers blamed privatisation, poor sanitation infrastructure and a lack of action by local authorities for the level of pollution.