Paul Hodgkinson demands Burnham overhauls broken water industry as North Cotswolds sees 5648 hours of spills

Cllr Paul Hodgkinson, Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate, is demanding that Andy Burnham make the radical overhaul of the broken water industry one of his first acts as Prime Minister. 

The call follows new analysis of data revealing the devastating scale of environmental damage in the North Cotswolds where water companies dumped sewage into local waterways for a staggering 5648 hours last year across that area.

Following years of environmental vandalism and financial mismanagement by water firms, Cllr Hodgkinson is calling on the new administration to abandon the failed privatisation model and hand water infrastructure back to the public via a customer-owned mutual model.

Specifically, the Liberal Democrats are calling on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to:

·  Put water companies into special administration immediately, permanently restructuring the company as a mutual run for the benefit of its customers.

·  Transition all existing water companies into public-benefit mutuals, owned by the people rather than the state, ensuring they are run for public health and the environment instead of private profit.

·  Abolish the toothless regulator Ofwat and replace it with a powerful new Clean Water Authority with statutory powers to enforce strict environmental standards and crack down on repeat offenders in Gloucestershire and across the country.

·  End the Great Sewage Cover-Up by forcing water companies to report the volume, not just the duration, of sewage spills.

·  Implement an immediate, legally binding ban on all water company executive bonuses, free from loopholes.

·  Ensure full accountability by recusing Number 10 advisor James Purnell from any involvement in decisions regarding Thames Water, given his previous work for a firm advising private utilities and major investors.

Paul Hodgkinson was joined by Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey in Andoversford where they saw first hand the River Coln which has been subject to large sewage spillages in recent years.  

Cllr Hodgkinson said:

"For years, people across our area have watched in anger as rivers like the Coln and Windrush have been pumped full of filthy sewage, all while foreign asset managers and corporate executives pocket billions.

"It is an absolute insult to local families that Thames Water is reporting profits while our local environment is routinely trashed and our water bills continue to rise.

"Andy Burnham has a clear choice in his first weeks in Number 10: stand up for communities like ours, or let the same broken, polluting system continue. 

“We need a clean break from the failed privatisation experiment - wiping the slate clean of vulture capital debt and handing our water infrastructure back to the people who actually use and rely on it."