Utility Week

12 | 6TH - 12TH DECEMBER 2019 | UTILITY WEEK Policy & Regulation Analysis C elebrating 30 years in a marriage tra- ditionally means someone gets a nice pearl. Will there be such a gi for the water sector? Not if Labour gets its way. The Labour party last month unveiled its long-awaited manifesto with a call to "end the great privatisation rip-off ". It confirmed that the water industry is one of the "natural monopolies" the party intends to take back into public hands if it wins the election. So how has it come to this aer the gains delivered by privatisation? "Going back to a nationalised system would be a disaster," says Colin Skellett, chief executive of Wessex Water, offering a clear-sighted opinion in these times of so much uncertainty. Having worked at Wessex Water since its formation and been the chief executive since 1988, Skellett has seen the evolution of privatisation. He explains that because of a constant need for high levels of investment, the sector has worked best post- privatisation "without a doubt". Maintaining resilience and upgrad- ing infrastructure across existing networks as well as investing to protect against the impacts of climate change needs money. "The sector needs constant investment and that will never come from the public sector because it never has. There are too many other demands on the public purse," he says. Public discontent Despite the companies themselves express- ing concern that progress and innovation would be halted if investment was pulled, they also demonstrate a sense of humility in recognising the legitimacy of some of the public's underlying grievances. A recent survey commissioned by Utility Week showed significant levels of dissatisfac- tion with the current ownership model. Just under a quarter of respondents said they are happy with the current arrangement while a quarter said they believe government would be better suited to provide water and energy services. A third of respondents expressed their preference for a model in which utilities are at least part-owned by local government and profits reinvested into communities. Another industry veteran, Chris Lough- lin, chief executive of South West Water, says he's been surprised by public reaction: "I thought when the Labour party suggested H3O: the Siren call of public ownership In the last of our H3O series, Ruth Williams examines what renationalisation could mean for the water sector and why it has come to this after the gains delivered by privatisation. Discontent over austerity, inequality and climate change has provoked some to question whether capitalism is the right answer after all

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