Local MP says news that Yorkshire Water will be banned from paying “unfair” bonuses is “welcome but too little, too late.”

The Government has announced that they are banning the worst-performing water companies – including scandal-hit Yorkshire Water – from paying out “unfair” bonuses to bosses this year, in a move that Tom Gordon, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough called “welcome but too little, too late”. 

As part of the announcement, it was revealed that the new policy would be backdated to April 2024, meaning that Ofwat will have the power to force water bosses to return bonuses from last year. Tom Gordon, who has been campaigning for Nicola Shaw, CEO of Yorkshire Water to hand back the obscene £371,000 bonus she was handed last year, paid out despite continued sewage dumping. 

Tom has been campaigning since before last year’s General Election to see water companies held to account for their failings. Since his election, Yorkshire Water has seen repeated scandals, including over sewage dumping and failing to deal with customer complaints, both of which were cited as reasons for the Government’s move today. Separately, Yorkshire Water has also been fined in recent months for sewage dumping.

Since being elected, Tom has met with the Environment Agency, the Nidd Action Group and Yorkshire Water to discuss the situation in the River Nidd and call for action and continue to campaign for change, alongside local groups, the community and local councillor Hannah Gostlow. Despite being designated as bathing water in 2023, the Knaresborough Lido remains polluted. 

Commenting, Tom Gordon said: 

“Nicola Shaw must now recognise that her bonus was obscene, and hand it back immediately so it can be spent on actually fixing Yorkshire Water’s problems. I hope she will do so today, to show the customers that are being so badly failed by continued sewage dumping that she cares. 

“However, whilst this announcement is welcome, it’s still too little, too late. All water company bosses bonuses, and shareholder payouts, should be banned without delay until no more sewage is being dumped in our rivers. 

“But what we really need is a complete overhaul of the water industry. Privatisation has failed customers, and is destroying our rivers. Enough is enough. The Government should stop trying to prop up a system that is clearly too far down a hole to rescue - or to get itself out. The water companies should be turned into public benefit companies, and made to work for people, not profit.”

ENDS