Now Streatham MP Reed faces court action over water torture

Rivers charity begins a Judicial Review, accusing the environment secretary of having ‘no policy at all’ for solving the crisis around Thames Water

Environment secretary Steve Reed, the MP for Streatham (and Croydon North, if he can ever be bothered) could be dragged into court by a rivers charity which has accused him of an unlawful failure to publish his policy on taking failing water companies into temporary nationalisation.

Lawyers for River Action argue that Thames Water has breached its duties and violated its licence conditions seriously and repeatedly, making it the clearest possible case for special administration.

Reed has come under fire even from senior figures in the Labour Party this month, as they have joined calls from celeb environomentalist Feargal Sharkey and others to re-nationalise basketcase utility company Thames Water, following the environment secretary’s soggy mess of a water reform review.

Sharkey, the former Undertones frontman, called for Reed’s resignation on live TV after the government-commissioned Cunliffe Review failed to recommend re-nationalising the privatised regional monopolies – largely because Reed deliberately excluded considering such an option when setting the terms for the review.

Reed was also caught out using data commissioned from water companies to argue that re-nationalisation would be too costly.

Now River Action has joined the Reed critics.

Reed has said that the government is stepping up preparations to take Thames Water into special administration, indicating he will reject pleas from the company’s creditors for leniency from fines and penalties.

Special administration is a temporary insolvency and restructuring process for companies that provide essential public services such as water, energy and transport, intended to ensure continuity of service while the company is restructured.

Thames Water’s largest creditors control the utility and have made efforts to cut some of its debts and have offered to provide £5.3billion in new funding to try to turn it around.

But River Action’s Emma Dearnaley said the time to use the special administration regime process is now.

“Enough is enough. Why hasn’t the secretary of state used special administration to fix the water sector, starting with Thames Water?

“The government has the power but won’t use it, or even explain when it might trigger this process. Apparently, the government has no policy at all. That’s a fundamental failure of transparency and accountability, and it’s unlawful.”

River Action has lodged an application for a Judicial Review, naming Reed as secretary of state as the respondent.

The claim argues that the government has failed to publish its policy on when it would use the SAR process, breaching core public law duties, and that ministers have failed to develop a policy at all, breaching obligations under habitats regulations and other planning and environmental laws.

Under Section 24 of the Water Industry Act 1991, special administration can be triggered by a water company’s failure to meet performance standards, including environmental pollution, and a breach of its statutory or licence duties in ways that are “serious enough to make it inappropriate for the company to continue to hold its licence”.

This appears very difficult for Reed and government lawyers to counter, given that Leonie Cooper AM, Labour’s lead at City Hall on environmental issues, earlier this month said, “With record amounts of excrement dumped into the Thames last year, the current system is not working.”

Cooper’s remarks were made with the approval of London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan.

Serious pollution incidents by Thames Water and other water companies were up 60% last year, with Thames Water responsible for 33 incidents – 44% of those registered by the Environment Agency.

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