The House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee will quiz the South East Water Chief and head of the Drinking Water Inspectorate next week over the Tunbridge Wells supply failure as part of its ongoing inquiry into reforming the water sector.
After tens of thousands of residents in Kent were left without drinking water for 14 days due to failures at a treatment centre, David Hinton, the Chief Executive of the water company that oversaw the problems, will face questions from MPs on the EFRA Committee.
South East Water told residents in Tunbridge Wells and surrounding villages on 29 November that water from their taps was unsuitable for drinking, bathing, giving to pets or brushing teeth.
The safety notice remained in place until 12 December when treatment works resumed and the risk of contamination ended.
Hinton was invited to attend the evidence session by Committee Chair Alistair Carmichael MP as the incident unfolded.
Also appearing will be Marcus Rink, Chief Inspector of the Drinking Water Inspectorate, which launched an ongoing investigation on 4 December. The organisation had previously warned South East Water in 2024 of a significant risk of failure at the Pembury treatment centre.
In next week’s evidence session, the witnesses are likely to be asked questions about the planning, resilience and capacity of the supplier’s infrastructure, as well as communications with the public and leadership.
The Committee is undertaking a long-term inquiry and last year published a report, Priorities for water sector reform. The Committee recently wrote to water companies about their approaches to recovering debts from vulnerable customers.
Appearances during the evidence session are as follows:
Tuesday 6 January in Committee Room 6, Palace of Westminster
Witnesses
Panel 1, at 10.00am:
· David Hinton, Chief Executive at South East Water
Tanya Sephton, Customer Services Director SEW
Panel 2, at 11.15am:
· Marcus Rink, Chief Inspector at Drinking Water Inspectorate
Click here to watch the evidence session live on Parliamentlive.tv or to catch up with the hearing afterwards
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