Pressures are mounting on the Government to publish its contingency plans amidst growing concerns about Thames Water’s financial position, following a report in the Financial Times that the water company is lobbying the government and Ofwat to let it increase bills, pay dividends and face lower fines.

In an article published in The Telegraph on Saturday 2^nd March, the newspaper is flagging up an oral question raised in the House of Commons last week by Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson and MP for Richmond Park Sarah Olney - the MP said:

“Today, reports that Thames Water has been lobbying the Government and Ofwat to let it increase bills and face lower fines come as the company seeks to avoid a potential £18 billion bail-out from the taxpayer. It seems clear that the UK’s largest water company is teetering on the brink of collapse.

“My constituents and all the 16 million people who depend on Thames Water across London, the Thames valley, Surrey and elsewhere will be deeply concerned about what a collapse of Thames Water could mean for them. We know that the Government have prepared a contingency plan for that event. That was confirmed to me in response to a written question that I tabled this month.

“However, in the same response the Government refused to make that plan public. The prospect of a multibillion-pound bail-out means that this has ceased to be a purely commercial matter, and there is now a significant public interest in the publication of the plans.

“May I please ask your advice, Mr Deputy Speaker, on how I might compel the Government to come to the House to provide reassurance to my constituents as soon as possible, and on what measures the House can take to ensure that the Government publish their contingency plans for the event of Thames Water’s collapse?”

Responding, Deputy Speaker Nigel Evans MP told Sarah Olney that she could always seek guidance from the Table Office on how she could pursue the matter further, pointing out it that her question would also have been heard by the Treasury Bench as well to bring it to the notice of Ministers.

Commenting on Twitter on 28 February after asking the question, Sarah Olney said:

“This Conservative Government’s refusal to publish their contingency plan in the event of Thames Water’s collapse is nothing short of a cover up.

“With billions of pounds of public money at stake, Ministers must urgently come clean and publish their proposals.”

The MP was reiterating her comment on Twitter of the previous day:

“This week the government told me they won't make their contingency plan in the event of Thames Water’s collapse public.

“This is a cover up.

“Customers and taxpayers deserve to know what Ministers plan to do if this disastrous situation happens.”

Sarah Olney tabled a written question in the House of Commons in February to ask the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if the Defra Minister would publish the Department’s contingency plan fort the potential event of Thames Water’s collapse.

The written reply by Defra Minister Robbie More said:

“Water companies are commercial entities. It is not appropriate to comment on the position of specific companies. However, as you would expect, the Government prepares for a range of scenarios across its regulated industries – including water – as any government would. It is the Defra Secretary of State’s responsibility to develop these plans for the water industry and it would not be appropriate to publish these plans.”

Ofwat accused of cover-up following failure to disclose dinners with water firms to “discuss.. public anger over bill rises and sewage spills"

Separately last week on 29 February The Guardian newspaper reported that Ofwat stood “accused of a cover-up” after the regulator failed to declare that chairman Iain Coucher had met for dinner with water company chairs from Severn Trent Water, South West Water, Wessex Water and Yorkshire Water at an exclusive private members’ club to “discuss how to quell public anger over bill rises and sewage spills.” Ofwat had also “failed to declare Thames Water paid for a dinner with their board,” the article says.

The newspaper said that details of the dinners had come to light following Freedom of Information requests from the Liberal Democrats. The article quotes an Ofwat spokesperson as saying:

“We found out that we made a mistake and didn’t give a full list of information to an FoI request. We spotted the error, told the requester that we had done so and would review it to make sure they got all the information they wanted, and we have now done that. We’ve apologised and tried to correct the mistake.”