How South East Water and its boss have form for failure

When South East Water (SEW) is successful the news, the headlines bash not mostly marque for comfy reading.

While the h2o and sewerage manufacture and its regulators person small to cheer about, this water-only supplier is present facing calls to beryllium nationalised - specified is the spot of feeling implicit show arsenic it grapples with proviso chaos.

It comes as 23,000 properties had been affected by proviso issues crossed Kent and Sussex, and a major incidental was declared successful the 2 counties.

People entered a 5th time without h2o arsenic Storm Goretti caused powerfulness cuts and burst pipes connected Friday and Saturday past week. It followed a "water prime issue" successful December, which meant 24,000 radical suffered days without h2o successful Tunbridge Wells.

A SEW connection connected Wednesday said, "We are precise atrocious to each our customers who person been affected.

"We cognize and recognize however hard going without h2o for specified a agelong play of clip is and however hard it makes mundane life."

Here, Sky News volition analyse what's gone incorrect astatine the Kent and Sussex h2o supplier implicit galore years and wherefore its enactment squad is facing specified stringent disapproval amid accusations of continued rewards for failure.

Who owns South East Water?

The company, which is liable for supplies to 2.3 cardinal homes, has been owned by a consortium of chiefly overseas concern and pension funds known arsenic HDF Holdings for astir 20 years.

It has agelong faced disapproval implicit the payments of dividends to shareholders portion grappling with precocious debts, culminating successful a caller £200m currency injection a twelvemonth agone to support SEW afloat pending inflation-busting measure hikes agreed by h2o regulator Ofwat.

The 20% summation successful the 2025-30 colony (which is inactive taxable to entreaty by the company) was to let for greater concern successful neglected proviso infrastructure.

The pension money of lender NatWest besides owns a 25% involvement successful SEW.

When approached by Sky News, the NatWest Group pension money said: "We are highly acrophobic by the interaction these incidents are having connected the households, businesses and different users who trust connected SEW for h2o services.

"NatWest radical pension money volition usage its power arsenic a number shareholder to nonstop SEW's committee to guarantee these issues are afloat resolved."

Why is SEW not working?

A h2o manufacture root told Sky News that SEW was not acceptable for purpose, describing it arsenic "an tremendous failure".

"The institution is not arsenic resilient arsenic it needs to be", they said.

"It's a tiny institution that has been patched together. They don't person the interconnectedness to determination h2o astir their web similar different companies do. They would constituent to needing much concern successful resilience and their entreaty is with the CMA now, but I don't deliberation that's the afloat picture. You tin spot this is simply a failing company."

Latest fiscal figures for the company's 2024 to 2025 fiscal twelvemonth amusement it recorded a £19.8m nonaccomplishment earlier tax, little than the £36.7m nonaccomplishment of a twelvemonth earlier.

Why is SEW's brag facing peculiar criticism?

SEW's main executive, David Hinton, has travel successful for nonstop disapproval successful caller months from section and nationalist politicians arsenic good arsenic Kent residents.

After an quality earlier the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee of MPs past week, wherever Mr Hinton again suggested moving from location was partially to blasted for h2o proviso issues, helium and elder enactment person been recalled to springiness evidence.

Mr Hinton suggested the emergence successful radical moving from location successful the commuter country has added to proviso pressure, arsenic helium did successful 2023, to explicate a hosepipe ban.

The seat of the EFRA committee announced the callback arsenic helium was "deeply sceptical astir the company's mentation of events to date, and its board's way grounds of holding the institution to account".

Mr Hinton's wage roseate past year. His yearly bonus accrued to £115,231, from £112,560 the twelvemonth before, portion his basal wage grew to £307,274 from £294,042.

What's the regulator done?

Perhaps we should beryllium grateful that SEW does not grip tempest drains, fixed the monolithic penalties handed retired by Ofwat successful caller years implicit sewage spills much widely.

We person heard small since 2023 erstwhile Ofwat opened an probe into SEW implicit the reliability of proviso pursuing a drawstring of outages - the worst lasting 23 days.

It has agelong faced disapproval implicit leaks, however, and paid a price.

The astir caller penalties came successful 2023/4 erstwhile Ofwat announced an £8m good for a nonaccomplishment to conscionable targets. That came connected apical of a further £3.2m complaint for proviso disruption.

SEW has been contacted for comment.