Residents Pay for Southern Water Failures

Responding to reports that Southern Water plans to increase bills by 73% to £759 a year, Liz Jarvis, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for Eastleigh, commented:

"Southern Water has been paying out millions in bonuses and now they want residents in Eastleigh and across Hampshire to pay the price for their failures. These plans to put more financial pressure on consumers must be scrapped.

"In the past year alone residents across Eastleigh have had to endure loss of water supply on two occasions and yet Southern Water want hard-working families to pay the price for their incompetence and failure to maintain the network properly. 

"Southern Water's performance has been abysmal and they have continued to dump raw sewage into our rivers and seas, including our precious chalk stream the River Itchen and the River Hamble. 

"Water is a necessity, it should never have been privatised and Southern Water is not fit for purpose. It's time their licence was revoked and Ofwat was replaced by an independent body."