Southern Water will be the first water company to appear before MPs to discuss the reasons for, and its response to, the water outages currently seeing schools close, and hospitals struggle in southern England.
This is part of the Reforming the water sector inquiry launched by the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee (EFRA).
Southern has received the highest bill rise settlement of all companies included in the price review announced by Ofwat (PR24), but concerns have been raised about its corporate structure and repeated service outages and sewage spills.
MPs will consider how Southern Water’s increased revenues will address the systematic problems facing the company, probe the adequacy of its corporate and financial arrangements, and assess the impact that recent legislative changes on dividends, bonuses and performance issues will have on its ability to operate.
As well as Southern Water, MPs will also hear from consumer representatives in this evidence session.
The Committee has requested that representatives from Southern Water appear before the Committee to give evidence on Tuesday 21 January, 2025.
