on today s big stories. plus, a first look at tomorrow s front pages. good evening. the biggest supplier of water in the uk thames water, with 15 million customers is on the brink of collapse with debts running into billions of pounds. the company is in talks to secure extra funding and the government says it is ready to act whatever happens. thames water, which was privatised back in 1989, is currently owned by a group of private equity and investment funds. the firm has been repeatedly criticised for its poor performance in dealing with water leaks and sewage pollution. its chief executive resigned abruptly yesterday. the state of the uk s water and sewage networks has become a big political issue,
up until now, or certainly up until now, the regulator has been focused on keeping consumer bills down, but there is a lot of infrastructure work that needs to take place and we need that entity to survive and continue going. thames has been ranked thejoint worst in the country for water treatment, sewage pollution and leaks, and all this came after rising multi billion pound debts and payouts, especially to the previous owners. absolute scandal, what has happened. huge dividends paid out, huge debts taken on, customer bills rocketing, sewage being dumped into our rivers. so the government must come forward and explain what are they going to do to sort this out. thames water has £14 billion worth of debt that s high by industry standards, and worth about 80% of its value. interest payments on more than half of that are linked to inflation, which has been very high. it is also seeking to invest about £11.5 billion to reduce leaks and sewage discharges. much more investment of this s
with £14 billion of debt. this lunch time, the company said it is working constructively with shareholders to secure the new funding needed to support its turnaround. 0ur economics editor reports. the british water industry has bobbed along in a stream of profits and easy money since privatisation 30 years ago. but something far murkier is emerging under the surface. the government, it emerged today, is on standby to take the nation s largest water company, thames water, back into effective government control as it struggles to raise the funds it needs to stay afloat amid a surprise resignation from the chief executive. i was concerned to hear the ceo had resigned abruptly, but we need to make sure thames water as an entity survives. thames has been ranked thejoint worst in the country for water treatment, sewage pollution and leaks, and all this comes amid rising multi billion pound debts and pay outs, especially
in the decades since. having water owned by financial investors like this creates a crazy set of incentives and priorities which i don t think can be resolved if you are trying to manage the interests of global finance at the same time as the environment. we have seen the terrible outcomes in terms of sewage pollution and the interests of consumers who are struggling to pay their bills. i think the system needs a massive reboot. public and political dissatisfaction with the privatised model of water provision in england and its regulation has been building for a while. if financial instability and public bailouts are now on the agenda,