The Labour Party has indicated its intention to get the UK water companies firmly in its sights with a commitment to impose a compulsory national affordability scheme and new powers for Ofwat to review water company licences if it wins the General Election in 2015.

In a wide-ranging speech to the Labour Party conference this morning, Maria Eagle MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs told delegates that  a new deal focused on affordability and fairness for all was needed with the water companies and that Labour would deliver it.

Maria Eagle was scathing about both the coalition’s track record in the sector and the water companies themselves, commenting:

“After more than four years of David Cameron and Nick Clegg, water companies - which made over £2 billion in profit in 2013 - paid £1.8 billion of it in dividends to their shareholders and only £74 million in tax.”

“Conference, that’s 90 per cent of their profit paid out in dividends - mainly to foreign hedge funds and anonymous private owners - the privileged few.”

Ms. Eagle told delegates that rather than make water companies support customers struggling to pay unaffordable bills, David Cameron had allowed them to “simply siphon money off year after year after year.”

The Shadow Secretary of State emphasised the monopoly position of the privatised utilities which meant that customers were unable to change their water company if they “don’t like how it’s behaving” with no option to shop around for a better deal.

Ms. Eagle said that rising water bills had added to the cost of living crisi - up by almost 50 per cent since privatisation and up 12.5 per cent since 2010 in the same time that household incomes are falling, commenting:

“Conference, it’s just not good enough.

We need a new deal with the water companies and Labour will deliver it - focused on affordability and fairness for all. We will reform the industry, creating a national affordability scheme - compulsory for all water companies - to help people struggling to pay their bills wherever they live in the UK.

And in addition to more transparency for the first time, under a Labour government, we’ll give the regulator new powers to modify the terms of water company licenses. Licenses first granted 25 years ago, when much of the industry was privatised - and largely unchanged to this day.

But times have changed along with company structures and ownership and we are seeing increasingly exploitative behaviour by some. It’s not right under these circumstances that licenses can’t be reformed. Under a Labour government that will change.”