Utility Week

6 | 22ND - 28TH FEBRUARY 2019 | UTILITY WEEK A UtilityWeek c ampaign Analysis A year ago, environment secretary Michael Gove set the hares run- ning when he hijacked the water sector's own conference to point out how its executives were rewarding themselves "handsomely". Gove's speech at Water UK's City confer- ence last March was political theatre at its best from Westminster's arch performer and provided the perfect opportunity for glee- ful sub-editors to dust off another "fat-cat bosses" headline. But it was also far from original. Utility- bashing had long-established itself as a spectator sport. The financial models of pri- vatised monopoly companies, including how much water and energy network executives were taking home in pay and bonuses, were already providing a field day for page-one puns, from "rivers of gold" to "griddy guts". Nevertheless, the secretary of state's salvo raised the stakes. And it highlighted the growing popular groundswell of dismay over economic disparity in the UK, along with the Opposition's determination to make political capital from it. While Gove no doubt intended it as a wake-up call – not that those running water, or network companies for that mat- ter, needed it – it reinforced the message that now was the time for monopoly utilities to get their act together, especially with the looming spectre of renationalisation should Labour form the next government. Paid more than the prime minister… Certainly, one particularly toe-curling pas- sage of Gove's delivery seemed to hit a nerve. Utility executives, are you worth it? Barely a week goes by without a headline condemning high levels of executive pay – and water and energy bosses are increasingly the targets of choice for media and politicians. So is the criticism fair? And are utility captains of industry really worth it? As part of our New Deal for Utilities campaign, Suzanne Heneghan investigates. JOIN THE DEBATE Follow our campaign online: www. utilityweek.co.uk on our Twitter @Utility Week and on LinkedIn, #NewDealForUtilities. To share your thoughts or for more details, contact our acting editor: suzanneheneghan@ fav-house.com "You must realise that in the public eye you are very handsomely remunerated," Michael Gove, berated the water sector at Water UK's City conference last year Listing the impressive salaries of some water company bosses, he dramatically declared the salary of one delegate in the audience as being "five times that of the prime minister". "You must realise that in the public eye you are very handsomely remunerated," he continued, like an exasperated headmaster. "At least, one might hope, companies making such big profits, paying such big dividends and supporting such generous executive sala- ries would be big contributors to the Excheq- uer through their tax bill. Well some are, and others are not. Very much not.' Regardless of how well his delivery went down with the assembled throng of water chiefs, the moment drove home the impor- tance of public perception about the value for money of those leading our monopoly utilities and their individual track records – a key theme of Utility Week's New Deal for Utilities campaign, which aims to help strike a better social contract between the public, utilities and policymakers. But how do you measure the market worth of those in water and energy's top jobs? Are their salaries justified and what is a fair rate? And should we not strive to attract the very best to run our lifeline services? Well, Labour had a stab at it, see right. In this article: Labour on the attack 7 A regulator's view 7 A CEO's view 8 A union's view 8 An insider's view 9 No escape for enery chiefs 9 Executive pay an inequality 10 Luke Pollard MP on water nationalisation 10 Networks next in the firing line 10

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