Southern Water will be the first water company to face the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Select Committee committee following Ofwat’s price review announcement in a week which saw water outages for thousands of customers.

The Committee has requested that representatives from Southern Water appear before the Committee to give evidence on Tuesday 21 January at the start of its new inquiry: Reforming the water sector;

The water company will appear before MPs to discuss the reasons for, and its response to, the water outages currently seeing schools close, and hospitals struggle in southern England.

Southern Water has received the highest bill rise settlement of all companies included in the price review announced on Thursday, but concerns have been raised about its corporate structure and repeated service outages and sewage spills.

MPs will consider how Southern Water’s increased revenues will address the systematic problems facing the company, probe the adequacy of its corporate and financial arrangements, and assess the impact that recent legislative changes on dividends, bonuses and performance issues will have on its ability to operate. As well as Southern Water, MPs will also hear from consumer representatives in this evidence session.