Committee publication · Correspondence · 13 May 2025

Correspondence to Mark Thurston, CEO, Anglian Water regarding Reforming the water sector inquiry, dated 13 May 2025

From: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee

Inquiry: Reforming the water sector

Summary

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee writes to Anglian Water's CEO requesting supplementary evidence for its water sector reform inquiry. The letter seeks detailed information on remuneration models, dividend policies, and spending on legal fees and advertising, building on previous submissions and extending the inquiry's cross-industry comparison of these practices.

Key findings

  • Committee seeks details on remuneration committee selection, senior executive bonus policies, and dividend payment policies linked to company performance
  • Requests five-year historical overview of changes to remuneration and dividend policies to establish trends
  • Previous submission from 4 April 2025 provided 2023/24 remuneration data; committee requests updated information showing policy evolution
  • Committee investigating spending of bill payer money on legal action against regulators (Ofwat, Environment Agency) and advertising

Tone

Procedural

Topics

water-utilitiescorporate-governanceexecutive-remunerationpublic-finance

Key actors

Mark Thurston, Anglian Water, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Ofwat, Environment Agency

Notable line

My Committee remains concerned about the culture of bonuses and paying dividends and the varying standards being a pplied.

Key Quotes

My Committee remains concerned about the culture of bonuses and paying dividends and the varying standards being a pplied.
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee · Explaining rationale for requesting remuneration and dividend policy information from all water companies
My Committee is also concerned about bill payer money being spent on advertisements and legal action against Ofwat …
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee · Raising concerns about water company spending practices
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Source · parliament.uk record ↗