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By EDWARD HEATHCOAT AMORY, Daily Mail 08:45am 22nd June 2006
So what's the answer? First, we need a regulator prepared to get tough on the water firms, to force them to make the necessary investment and, if they don't, confiscate their profits in fines.
Second, we need a government that makes a realistic assessment of water demand before giving the go-ahead to thousands of new homes in the South East. Third, we need to crack down on the one in ten customers who don't bother to pay their water bills.
Finally, if the water industry is to be remain in the private sector, there must be genuine competition. If people can switch gas and electricity suppliers, why not water suppliers as well?
Admittedly, that would require splitting the water companies, with one firm owning the delivery pipe work and the other supplying the water itself, but it has worked for other services, so why not water? Without these changes, we should expect continuing water shortages, steadily rising bills, and a nice little earner for whoever ends up owning Thames and the other water firms.
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