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2025-07-31 18:22:52 UTC
in reply to

Leigh Silvester on Nostr: At heart I prefer people NOT to be profiteering from essential services; water, gas, ...

At heart I prefer people NOT to be profiteering from essential services; water, gas, electricity, healthcare, education, justice system etc.

However, I recall when water (and the others) were solely public sector and they all suffered from chronic under investment for decades. That was irrespective of which party was in government.
While the current narrative regarding water is one of lack of investment, in most areas the amount of infrastructure investment is higher than when in public sector.

The dividends that water companies can pay are related to performance, which it should be.

For me the critical issue is performance and investment irrespective of the ownership model. It seems that the terms and performance of OfWat are lacking.
This water industry perspective is interesting.

https://www.water.org.uk/news-views-publications/views/thirty-years-what-has-water-privatisation-achieved

Severn Trent has a massive infrastructure renewal budget but are struggling to find suitably experienced personnel. Are currently training people to do this work.