‘Horrendous’: Council slams Thames Water over leaks, burst pipes and spiralling costs

Thames Water officials Michael Benke (left), Martin Padley (left of centre) Paul Wetton (right of centre) and Tim Davies (right). Image: Islington Council

Islington Council has rebuked Thames Water for its treatment of residents following recent failures, soaring bills and “woefully inadequate” communications.

Representatives from Thames Water endured a tough grilling by councillors on Thursday (23 January) at a special scrutiny panel convened to find out if the company had “upped its act” in recent years.

While laying out the scale of mains replacements, water quality tests and over £20 million in investment for a Pentonville pipe upgrade earlier this year, officials admitted their company needed to do more – as councillors demanded fulsome apologies for disruption and poor communication.

Council leader Una O’Halloran acknowledged the company’s previous apologies on these matters, but heavily implied the problem lay with the private monopoly model.

“People are going to pay for your mistakes. It’s still shameless. [We] brought you to account over the impact on businesses, and you haggled on insurance and everything else.”

She asked the company to assure anyone watching the meeting that they could contact it directly, as members had been told resident simply couldn’t get through to them.

“It’s still greed. I know some of you are relatively new to this, but it’s all about profit. Some people have had the gravy train, and now in the years to come our residents are going to pay more money,” she said.

“You can’t treat people like this. You need to get on with your job. It’s horrendous.”

Cllr Tricia Clark (Labour, Tufnell Park) said she had “lost faith” in the company’s ability to manage sewage, and raised the regulator Ofwat’s damning verdict that the provider was the least resilient water company,

In 2023, the Environment Agency instructed the utility provider in 2023 to fix the scale of its leaks, which had culminated in the haemorrhaging of 630 billion litres of water per day in London alone.

Committee chair Cllr Nick Wayne (Labour, Canonbury) added: “We have all had experience of our constituents telling us that the response, and the communications from [the company] when things go wrong is woefully inadequate.”

Parts of the borough were hit hard by faulty mains pipes last year, resulting in lingering disruption on Caledonian Road and the complete closure of Offord Road in Barnsbury for 10 weeks.

At the time, Cllr Praful Nargand (Labour, Barnsbury) said the water company’s “failure to invest in our water infrastructure” had harmed residents, despite ward members’ repeated demands for Victorian-era pipes to be replaced.

Cllr Sara Hyde said a similar incident in Pentonville Road had given businesses a “really tough time”, and demanded a public apology and more reassurance.

The chamber also heard residents’ stories from Cllr Bashir Ibrahim (Labour, Arsenal), including his disabled mother whose monthly bill jumped to £800 in November.

After calling the provider to contest the amount, he said they “berated” him for not ensuring the bill was paid, despite his mother being unable to go outside.

“I insisted Thames Water come down to check the meter, and I believe they are going to.

“But if I find myself in front of a bailiff because of Thames Water’s failings—not my mother’s—I’ll be very disappointed.”

In another case, resident Janet was charged £820 after battling the company for them to repair a leak, which Cllr Ibrahim was “dumbfounded” to learn was calculated automatically — and this is true of all the company’s bills.

Councillors also asked the company a question from absent local MP Emily Thornberry, who blasted the council for a litany of failures, including leaving some families waiting for more than 11 days without running water.

“The relationship between Thames Water and my constituents is the relationship between the parasite and the host,” she said.

“Why do [they] expect my constituents to bear paying higher and higher bills for poor service and lack of adequate contingency measures when water supply fails? And what efforts are Thames Water making to increase response times in Islington?”

Martin Padley, the provider’s water director said that it was making enhancements to its communications, including hiring more specialist staff.

Michael Benke, stakeholder engagement manager, assured that he and others would also inquire with the customer services teams off the back of the meeting.

Defending the company’s workforce, Padley stressed that “people join the industry because they care. I think that point is often lost in the maelstrom of bad news and talk about creditors.”