Bonuses to water firm bosses rose this 12 months to £9.1m – regardless of document sewage discharges and monetary woes at some utilities.
Executives from English and Welsh water companies acquired a complete of £9,126,858 within the 2023/2024 monetary 12 months, up from £9,012,777 a 12 months earlier, in accordance with evaluation of firm filings executed by the Liberal Democrats.
When base pay and pension contributions are factored in, complete funds to executives reached greater than £20m – barely lower than the 12 months earlier than when full remuneration was £20.2m.
Pension contributions additionally elevated to £1.68m from £1.55m.
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Base pay alone for water firm seniors was greater than £9.2m, lower than the £9.7m recorded 12 months earlier than.
It comes as a document variety of sewage discharges went into British waterways.
Newest figures from the Setting Company confirmed discharges of untreated sewage by water corporations doubled from 1.8 million hours of discharges in 2022 to a document 3.6 million in 2023 whereas 464,000 particular person spills have been recorded – up from 301,000.
Beneath present guidelines, water corporations can discharge sewage from storm overflows, however solely in periods of heavy rain and beneath strictly permitted circumstances.
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Thames Water boss can ‘save’ firm
In the meantime, the UK’s largest water supplier Thames Water faces nationalisation with consultants saying the corporate is “uninvestable” as shareholders pull their investments, whereas its holding agency has defaulted on a few of its £16bn debt pile.
Who paid probably the most?
Regardless of the robust monetary instances, the utility was one of many corporations that elevated bonuses.
Bonus payouts almost doubled from £746,000 in 2022/2023 to £1.26m in 2023/2024.
The largest bonuses have been paid by Severn Trent, who gave three executives £3.36m in bonuses, a rise from £3.319m year-on-year.
Requires extra regulation
The Liberal Democrats are calling for an instantaneous ban on bonus funds in any respect water corporations whereas sewage outflows proceed.
The occasion says it’s pushing for a parliamentary vote to ban bonuses by tabling an modification to the federal government’s water (particular measures) invoice.
The invoice has been launched as a part of the federal government’s efforts to crack down on air pollution and monetary mismanagement within the water trade.
Proposals within the invoice embody the flexibility to jail executives and elevated compensation for purchasers.
