Source · Select Committees · Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Recommendation 8
8
Acknowledged
Similarly to the provision of alternative water supplies, South East Water now has years of...
Conclusion
Similarly to the provision of alternative water supplies, South East Water now has years of experience in communicating during supply interruptions. It is incomprehensible that SEW still lacks a crisis communications strategy or a well-developed communications team given the company’s propensity for water outages. This put communication teams in a difficult position. Basic communications errors, like giving incorrect and inconsistent information about bottled water stations, using the wrong postcodes, poorly chosen language and a lack of empathy with customers, should not need external consultants to resolve. Vague answers to our questions to the company have not outlined what will happen to embed lessons, prevent future disconnections with operations, and ensure that a new communications “playbook” will be kept up to date and stress-tested. This does not give us confidence in the leadership’s ability to learn from its previous mistakes and address the problems we have identified. (Conclusion, Paragraph 46)
Government response summary AI-generated
The government acknowledges South East Water's serious failings, detailing ongoing regulatory enforcement, proposed penalties, and new compensation standards for customers. It states the government is working with regulators to ensure a strong, coordinated response to protect customers.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government · verbatim extract
Acknowledged
As the Committee will be aware, on the 28 May, Moody’s published their decision to downgrade South East Water’s credit rating to Ba1 (outlook negative). This has resulted in a breach of Condition P26 of the company’s licence, triggering Ofwat’s duty to issue an enforcement order or agree suitable undertakings. South East Water is also subject to multiple ongoing enforcement proceedings via Ofwat and the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI). On 5 March 2026, Ofwat proposed a £22 million penalty for South East Water’s supply resilience failures following its investigation into major customer supply disruptions between 2020 and 2023. Ofwat’s consultation on this decision closed on 13 April 2026, and Ofwat are now considering the representations made. In April 2026, the Drinking Water Inspectorate concluded that the Tunbridge Wells incident in November/December 2025 was foreseeable and preventable, citing systemic operational failures, and placed the company into a formal Transformation Programme. Following the major outages in late 2025 and early 2026, in May, elevated temperatures drove increased demand, leading to significant disruption, with around 20,000 properties, mainly in Kent, experiencing intermittent supply. The disruption highlights my serious concern about the company’s resilience under predictable seasonal pressures. South East Water’s performance is clearly below the standard that customers and Government are entitled to expect. Repeated disruption to supply, weaknesses in operational resilience and the company’s ongoing regulatory breaches point to serious and unacceptable failings. The company is funded to deliver the necessary improvements, and it must now show credible leadership, a robust plan and early evidence of delivery. Government is working closely with Ofwat and the Environment Agency to ensure a strong, coordinated response that protects customers and restores confidence. Those affected must also be compensated promptly. Last year we doubled or more the compensation companies must pay to customers when they fail to meet standards, including incidents of supply outages or low pressure, and we also introduced new standards including for the issuing of ‘boil water’ or ‘do not drink’ notices. The incident in Tunbridge Wells was the first time a ‘boil water’ notice had been issued since the introduction of the new standard, meaning South East Water had to make mandatory payments to affected customers.
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