That this House expresses deep concern at the continued mismanagement of Thames Water, whose failings have caused serious disruption to residents across Wiltshire and beyond; notes that leaks continue to worsen, bills continue to rise, and customers are left with poor communication and little accountability; condemns the payment of excessive executive bonuses while service levels and infrastructure performance decline; regrets that a third of Thames Water customers’ bills are now spent on servicing the company’s debt; further notes that Thames Water holds £23 billion of assets in urgent need of repair and has a debt pile of nearly £20 billion; also notes that the company's future is perilous after US private equity firm KKR pulled out of plans to purchase the company, leaving it in the hands of its creditors who have failed to manage the company's finances; welcomes reports that the Government has appointed insolvency advisers to prepare for a potential Special Administration regime; calls for Thames Water to be placed into Special Administration so that debt can be written down with a swift exit plan to put customers first and direct investment towards repairing infrastructure; supports a ban on water company boss bonuses until environmental standards met; further calls for the replacement of Ofwat with a new, capable, and independent regulator without further delay; and urges the Government to act decisively to protect the 16 million customers who have been left to foot the bill for Thames Water’s corporate and regulatory failures.
