Andy Burnham made vague promises about public ownership of the water industry before he got the keys to No10. Now the reality is hitting…
Buying England’s 14 water companies would cost about £105 billion, according to PF Global analysis commissioned by Water UK. Frontier Economics puts it at £144 billion by 2030. Defra published an estimate of £100 billion last year, a figure that ignores the companies’ vast debts – which dwarf those figures. Burnham said nationalising the lot in one go was “complicated and probably expensive.” That’s why Burnham now talks about “public control”. According to No10, that means new water boards, plus more powers for regional mayors to hold the companies to account…
Guido understands several Labour mayors have warned the Prime Minister that taking on running the water industry would cost them with voters. Water UK’s submission to the mayoral planning consultation would give mayors call-in powers to unblock treatment works and trunk mains – but the politicians don’t want to (let alone have no idea about) taking those kind of operational decisions. The mayoral role would also bring politicians into re-litigating demand forecasts already settled with Ofwat. Which mayors would like to volunteer to be responsible for their constituents running out of water?
Kemi Badenoch at the 1922-ConHome bash last night:
“I did praise [Burnham] for his stamina, it was amazing. All I had to do was sit back and lie there. I didn’t have to do anything at all…”