Thames water fined 1.5M for delayed repairs
By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter
Thames Water was fined more than £1.5million in five years for delayed repairs in one borough.
The water company was punished with a financial penalty by Southwark council 675 times between 2018 and 2023 for drawn-out works.
Councils can hand out fines to utility companies for “unreasonably prolonged or missed managed works”.
Data obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request shows Thames Water was fined a total of £1,577,225 for delays from 2018 onwards.
The cash collected by the council was put towards managing road works in the borough, according to the FOI response dated August 23.
Councillor Rachel Bentley, deputy leader of Southwark’s Liberal Democrat group, said the figures showed the UK government had failed to hold water companies to account.
Cllr Bentley said: “That Thames Water is so frequently overrunning projects in Southwark is yet more evidence of the total failure of the Conservative Government to crackdown on water companies that have done nothing but oversee the slow collapse of our vital infrastructure and pour sewage into our rivers and waterways.
“Fines on their own will not fix the problem. In fact, they’re seen as a cost of doing business.”
A Thames Water spokesman said: “We’re sorry for when our roadworks cause disruption and delays to customers and motorists.
“We always aim to work collaboratively with councils to minimise disruption.
“We have 200 repair teams working tirelessly to fix leaks with activity taking place seven days a week and more than 280 people working round the clock and mainly overnight to detect leaks not yeat appearing at ground level.”
Pictured top: Southwark council building (Picture: Google Street View)
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