𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

MPs have “taken the unusual but necessary step” of declaring no confidence in the CEO and board of South East Water.

The Commons’ Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) found the firm’s leadership “incompetence” has accompanied “a culture of unaccountability that has perpetuated the company’s poor performance”.

A report published on Friday followed a probe into major outages in Kent and Sussex, which left tens of thousands of customers without drinking water for two weeks.

MPs grilled SEW CEO David Hinton, who receives a £400,000 salary, and customer services director Tanya Sephton in January.

Cross-party Parliamentarians said they had concerns about the accuracy of his evidence and his lack of accountability.

They then recalled the chief executive alongside company chairman Chris Train to answer further questions at a hearing in April.

EFRA Committee Chair Alistair Carmichael MP said: “We have taken the unusual but necessary step of declaring no confidence in SEW’s CEO and board because we feel obliged to highlight the gravity of this extraordinarily poor situation. This is an exceptional failure of management and of corporate governance.

“The refusal of anyone in the company to be accountable for this failure cannot, in our view, be overlooked.

“One cannot overstate the dangers of so many communities losing water supply for extended periods, including schools, GP surgeries and care homes.

“The Committee heard that many South East Water customers have so little confidence in the security of their supply that they are stockpiling bottled water because they fear the inevitable will happen again. In twenty-first century Britain that is an almost incredible state of affairs.”

MPs called on SEW’s shareholders – Utilities Trust of Australia, NatWest Group Pension Fund and Desjardins Group and associated holding companies – to hold the company to account.

Mr Carmichael said: “Someone in this company needs to take a grip, be accountable for its failings and to put them right. That should be for the executive leadership of the company and, failing that, it should then be the non-executive directors.

“That would normally be the end of the road, but when that fails, shareholders have a duty to act. We urge them to read this report and to take action. They can no longer be allowed to ignore the consequences for the consumers that they are licenced to serve.”

MPs identified SWE failures to maintain assets, invest and plan.

The MPs said: “A lack of data-analysis skills might be partially to blame, but there is also a clear culture of obfuscating responsibility that is seriously inhibiting their ability to analyse problems and learn lessons.”

SEW has been contacted for comment.