This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament
Rejected petition Demand that funds for fixing water infrastructure should not come from taxpayers
Water companies who have polluted our waters with sewage demand that taxpayers pay to fix the problem. Taxpayers money should have been better invested in infrastructure before to stop this problem. As this is entirely the fault of privatised water companies, this should come at their expense only.
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Clean water is essential for biodiversity and ecosystems to thrive. Sewage being pumped into waters destroys natural habitats in protected areas across the UK. Why should the taxpayer pay for an issue which has been caused by privatised water companies when they have already invested in preventing this issue? The calamitous management of funds enabling the problem of sewage pollution to grow means they should be fully accountable for its resolution.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s about something that the UK Government or Parliament is not directly responsible for.
Decisions about price controls for water, which include the cost of investment in infrastructure, are a matter for Ofwat, not the UK Government or Parliament.
Under the Water Industry Act 1991, Ofwat has statutory duty to make sure that companies are able to finance the proper carrying out of their functions. In setting price controls Ofwat's aim is to allow for a return on capital that is no more than necessary for an efficiently run company to get the funding they need from capital markets.
You can find out more about Ofwat's price controls here: https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/households/your-water-company/profits/
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.