The water torture goes on at Thames. Sector-wide reform isn’t moving much faster | Nils Pratley
News Source
•Thu, 15 Oct 2026 18:00:31 GMT
📰 What Happened
In a Guardian opinion column, Nils Pratley argued that the Thames Water crisis has dragged on far too long. He noted that the company now wants another £2.4 billion from creditors, while ministers, regulators and lenders keep talking. He also said fixing the wider water industry is moving slowly, more than two years after it was marked as an urgent problem.
🔍 The Backstory
In 2024, the government asked the former Bank of England deputy governor Sir Jon Cunliffe to review how water is regulated. His report, delivered last year, called for abolishing the regulator, Ofwat. A water bill based on it should have arrived this autumn, but a change of prime minister delayed it.
The new prime minister, Andy Burnham, has promised a "strengthened" version but has not explained what "greater public control" actually means. Rating agency Moody's said this week that regulatory change "appears to have stalled" and that political uncertainty could push borrowing costs up.
🎯 Why It Matters
Credit ratings affect how much companies pay to borrow, and those costs reach customers through their bills. Pratley's point is that delay and uncertainty can be almost as damaging as a bad decision made quickly. Uncertainty also costs money, because investors charge more when they do not know what a government will do.
In a Guardian opinion column, Nils Pratley argued that the Thames Water crisis has dragged on far too long. He noted that the company now wants another £2.4 billion from creditors, while ministers, regulators and lenders keep talking. He also said fixing the wider water industry is moving slowly, more than two years after it was marked as an urgent problem.
In 2024, the government asked the former Bank of England deputy governor Sir Jon Cunliffe to review how water is regulated. His report, delivered last year, called for abolishing the regulator, Ofwat. A water bill based on it should have arrived this autumn, but a change of prime minister delayed it.
The new prime minister, Andy Burnham, has promised a "strengthened" version but has not explained what "greater public control" actually means. Rating agency Moody's said this week that regulatory change "appears to have stalled" and that political uncertainty could push borrowing costs up.
Credit ratings affect how much companies pay to borrow, and those costs reach customers through their bills. Pratley's point is that delay and uncertainty can be almost as damaging as a bad decision made quickly. Uncertainty also costs money, because investors charge more when they do not know what a government will do.