Jeremy Corbyn has made the case for why water should be brought back into public ownership immediately – saying £72 billion has been taken out of the industry since privatisation.
An Independent Commission into the water sector and its regulation will be launched by the government today (23/10), in what is expected to form the largest review of the industry since privatisation 35 years ago.
The recommendations will form the basis of further legislation to attract long-term investment and clean up our waters for good – injecting billions of pounds into the economy, speeding up delivery on infrastructure to support house building and addressing water scarcity, given the country needs to source an additional 5 billion litres of water a day by 2050.
Former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, Jon Cunliffe, will chair the Commission.
It will draw upon a panel of experts from across the regulatory, environment, health, engineering, customer, investor and economic sectors.
Launching the review, Secretary of State Steve Reed said: “Our waterways are polluted and our water system urgently needs fixing.
“That is why today we have launched a Water Commission to attract the investment we need to clean up our waterways and rebuild our broken water infrastructure.
“The Commission’s findings will help shape new legislation to reform the water sector so it properly serves the interests of customers and the environment.”
But according to former Labour leader Corbyn, the time for private companies to clean up the mess has passed:
