MPs sound alarm over further SEW outages and press for more action

(by Karma Loveday)

Supply outages in Kent over the late May bank holiday prompted MPs to pile in with ideas on what more the Government should do to safeguard supplies for residents over summer.

Water minister Emma Hardy was asked an Urgent Question in Parliament on South East Water (SEW) last week, given the latest supply problems are the third serious outage for the company since Christmas. Regional MPs lined up to seek assurance there will be no further repeats, and especially to ensure provision for vulnerable customers, critical healthcare providers and livestock.

Hardy said she and her team had been in detailed engagement with SEW leaders, in which she had pressed for actions that are within company control, such as to accelerate leak repairs, build a closer relationship with local resilience forums, and improve communications and alternative supply arrangements. She also detailed the actions the Government has taken to date to improve the water sector more widely, and its further plans for reform.

But MPs pressed for more. Among the suggestions arising were:

Public ownership

• Clive Efford, Labour MP for Eltham and Chislehurst – “There must come a time when we say to them, 'Enough is enough,’ and take control of them for the public good.” 

• Clive Lewis, Labour MP for Norwich South –  “This situation will keep happening until water is put back under public control, in public hands, and owned by the public.”

  
  

Alternative ownership

• Polly Billington, Labour MP for East Thanet – “Rather than simply fining these companies when they fail so catastrophically, we should take stocks in the company to the value of the amount of the fine to be held by a locally convened water board, so that residents have some form of control and accountability for the decisions that are made. Otherwise, we are relying on extractive capitalism and that will destroy our water supply.”

• Sarah Dyke, Liberal Democrat MP for Glastonbury and Somerton – “We do not need more tinkering — we need a total structural overhaul… Will the Minister back Liberal Democrat proposals for a mutually owned public benefit model for water companies, focusing investment on the environment, customers and infrastructure, rather than on lining the pockets of the bosses of water companies such as SEW?”

Controlling growth

• Roger Gale, Conservative MP for Herne Bay and Sandwich and proposer of the Urgent Question – “Water companies face a very real problem in the regulations as they stand. They are required by law to connect every new house to a supply, but they are not consultees in planning applications — we have to correct that. They have to be given a voice because they cannot spirit water out of thin air.”

• Helen Whately, Conservative MP for Faversham and Mid Kent – “There is a longer-term problem with water infrastructure and supply that will not be fixed overnight. In my constituency, 20,000 more houses are in the pipeline for the next few years, and thousands more in the surrounding area. Is there enough water for those thousands of additional houses in rural Kent?” 

• Chris Hinchliffe, Labour MP for North East Hertfordshire – “AI data centres estimate that water consumption will reach up to half a trillion cubic metres every year. Does the minister… accept that if we are to prevent water supply disruptions from recurring year in year out, we cannot continue to have infinite increases in demand on our already vastly overstretched water resources?”

Constituency level emergency plans

• Helena Dollimore, Labour MP for Hastings and Rye – “Will the Minister instruct all water companies in the country to have detailed emergency response plans in place for every constituency in the country and ask that they work with local MPs on them? We are the people who can get the contact details for the local headteachers and vicars, as I had to last Christmas Eve, who can set up water stations, but the water companies need to do the planning before disaster strikes and people lose water. I urge the minister to look at such measures.”

• Tom Tugendhat, Conservative MP for Tonbridge – “The Minister has extraordinary discretionary authority to corral and coerce companies to act, so will she look at bringing forward a task group within regional areas to ensure that emergency water plans are in place? Otherwise this situation will happen again.”

Minister Hardy welcomed the suggestions, noting where work is already being done, such as to progress new reservoirs, create a water ombudsman, and provide for companies to move to alternative ownership models under White Paper policy.

She added that the following initiatives were also in train:

• “National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority has been doing some mapping to identify areas of the country that have more acute water shortage problems and what we need to resolve them.”

• “I am having conversations with the Cabinet Office about whether there are ways of sharing [vulnerable customer] data, while bearing in mind the sensitivities and complications of sharing information.”

• “There are various other rules and regulations on businesses’ use of water — at the moment, we have a slightly bizarre situation where businesses have to use potable water. They are not able to use other types of water, and it seems a bit crazy that we are wasting drinking water on things that are not drinking or for domestic customer.” On data centres specifically, she said: “Where, for instance, we want to use water for data centres, for growth, why do we not — in a closed-loop system — use wastewater? We have some legislation that has been drafted for the right purposes and sounds great — of course, a water company must produce water of drinking-water standard — but does it need to be of drinking-water standard if it is being used to cool machinery?”

• “In the conversation I had with South East Water on Sunday, I asked it to identify by the end of the week what compensation will be paid to who, and when, and I will be following up on that.”

• Through the Water Delivery Taskforce “We have been assessing what is likely to happen over the next five, ten or 15 years. What are the various water supplies that will be coming in? What impact will that have on house building? How can homes be built to a more water-efficient design? Those conversations are happening now, across Government. We need to achieve the right balance between ensuring that everyone has a home to live in and, at the same time, preventing a water crisis.”

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CCW research paints “a damning picture” of experience of winter outages

Publishing joint consumer research with Ofwat highlighting the experiences of South East Water customers who suffered extensive disruption to their water supply last winter, the Consumer Council for Water said: “The report paints a damning picture of the company’s response and the scale of the impact on affected customers, including serious issues with communication, bottled water provision and support for vulnerable customers.”

CCW highlighted the following: 

• Fewer than one in ten affected customers were satisfied with how SEW handled the incidents.

• Communication was the clearest and most consistent point of failure, with fewer than one in ten affected customers satisfied with the reliability of communications about the timescale to restore services.

• Around half of customers in vulnerable circumstances who were registered for Priority Services said they did not receive the support they expected.

• Around half of those affected say they now store bottled water at home in case of future incidents.

• 26% of customers affected in November-December 2025, increasing to 41% in January 2026, did not feel it was clear how to access water that was safe to drink.

• Over 40% of customers across both incidents did not believe the amount of water they were given at the stations was sufficient to meet their household needs.

CCW chief executive Mike Keil commented: “Perhaps the most damaging legacy is the loss of confidence among some SEW customers in the safety and reliability of their drinking water – despite the UK’s reputation for world-class tap water.

“We recognise SEW has committed to strengthening the resilience of its services and improving support for customers, but the most recent heatwave disruption suggests the company remains a long way from getting a full grip of its network. The problems which have plagued the company in recent years point to deeper cultural issues that its new leadership must urgently address. Restoring consumer trust will require meaningful change, a sharper focus on customers’ needs and delivering on the commitments the company has made.”