Support for water nationalisation has slumped following last week’s exposure of Labour’s plan to hit the savings of nearly six million pensioners if they take the English water industry into government ownership.

According to a new poll by ComRes for Water UK the dramatic fall shows only 29% of people would support water nationalisation if it cut pensions in the way planned by Labour, 

This compares to the 83% support for water nationalisation, often quoted by supporters of public ownership, from a poll carried out in summer 2017 before details about Labour set out its water takeover plans. 

The collapse in support for nationalisation comes as more details of the Labour's plans have emerged. Research by the Global Infrastructure Investor Association (GIIA) shows that there are more than 4 million public sector workers with pension funds invested in the English water industry. They face losing potentially thousands of pounds if Labour goes ahead with plans to force through a cut-price takeover of the industry, Water UK said.

It was revealed last week that Labour briefing papers showed that a future government would plan to pay a fraction of the market value for the English water industry if it took it over, and that the Party accepted there would be an impact on pensions invested in the industry.

Responding to the new figures on a fall in support for water nationalisation in England, as well as the new information about the impact on pensions, Water UK Chief Executive Michael Roberts said:

“More and more people are realising that spending tens of billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money to take over an industry that’s already reducing bills, increasing investment and cutting leakage doesn’t make much sense. When you add in the devastating impact on millions of pensioners it turns a bad idea into a deeply damaging one.”

ComRes was asked by Water UK to test public attitudes - ComRes asked the following question:

“The Labour Party's proposal for nationalising the water industry would mean the government paying less for water companies than they are worth, which would reduce the value of nearly 6 million people's pensions which are invested in water companies, including both private and public sector workers' pensions. How positive or negative do you feel about this consequence of nationalisation?”

22% of respondents said they were positive about it, 43% were negative about it, and 34% were neutral.

ComRes then asked:

“If this were to happen as a result of nationalisation, to what extent would you support or oppose the nationalisation of water and sewerage services in England?”

29% said they would support water nationalisation, 46% would oppose it, and 25% didn’t know.

Since privatisation in 1989 around £160 billion has been invested in the water industry, with plans for another £50 billion over the next 5 years. Bills are roughly the same in real terms as they were 20 years ago - average water bills are now around £1 a day.

Customers are now 5 times less likely to suffer from supply interruptions, 8 times less likely to suffer from sewer flooding, and 100 times less likely to have low water pressure than they were when the industry was in Government hands.

Nationalisation would cost the British taxpayer £90 billion upfront, according to the independent think tank the Social Market Foundation (SMF). 

The National Infrastructure Commission has said that significant ongoing investment is needed in the UK’s water infrastructure, estimated by the SMF to be over £100 billion in the next decade. The SMF found that ongoing investment in water would account for over 13% of the UK’s entire capital spend. 

ComRes interviewed 2,028 GB adults aged 18+ online between 10th and 12th May 2019. Data was weighted to be nationally representative of all GB adults by age, gender, region and social grade.