Yorkshire Water bosses rebuked with execs stripped of bonuses
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Yorkshire Water bosses rebuked with execs stripped of bonuses
Senior executives at Yorkshire Water have been stripped of their bonuses as a result of new rules coming into effect on Friday 6 June.
They join other water chiefs at Thames Water, Anglian Water, Wessex Water, United Utilities and Southern Water who have been hit with bans that have previously seen them pocket over £112 million in bonuses and incentive payments over the last 10 years.
The Labour government stated that “companies are not permitted to pay bonuses to water bosses that oversee poor environmental and customer outcomes”.
Commenting on the announcement, the Ilkley Clean River Group said that the bonus ban “signalled a headache for the executives overseeing shocking performance, under delivery, potential criminal inaction and mismanagement of our waterways”.
Professor Becky Malby, from the group, added that this was yet another signal “that the water system is totally broken”. She said:
“Across the country, the public has been calling for public ownership to reduce costs and save our environment. Stopping bonuses is not the answer – a radical shake-up is needed."
A spokesperson for Yorkshire Water said that Nicola Shaw, CEO of the company, had already made the decision not to accept a bonus this year because it “would not be appropriate”.
Yorkshire Water was recently hit with a £40 million “enforcement package”, after an Oftwat investigation found “serious failures in how Yorkshire Water has operated and maintained its sewage works and networks”.
Speaking earlier this year, in March, Lynn Parker, senior director for enforcement at Ofwat, described the failures as unacceptable but welcomed the company’s acknowledgement of its shortcomings. She said:
“They deserve credit for stepping up and agreeing an enforcement package with us that will help get things back on track as soon as possible. These commitments will contribute to the company delivering on its promises for cleaner rivers and seas.”
Yorkshire Water was first privatised in 1989 as part of the Conservative government’s sweeping reforms – under the leadership and direction of the PM, Margaret Thatcher – to denationalise great swathes of the public sector.
Writing in The Economist in 2023, Mathew Lawrence, the founder and director of the thinktank Common Wealth, described privatisation in the UK as a “giant experiment” that has been done at a scale “more extensive than in almost any other OECD country”.
The result? The UK is an outlier when it comes to water, with the industry in most countries still held and managed by the public. He continued:
“To see the disastrous effects of this experiment, one need only look at England’s crisis-ridden water companies – or brave a swim in an English river flooded with sewage.
“At the time of privatisation, the water industry as a whole carried no debt … Since then the sector has accumulated £53 billion in debt while distributing £72 billion to shareholders, the majority of whom are international investors.”
According to the We Own It campaign group, Yorkshire Water is today half owned by Hong Kong investment firms, a third owned by the Singapore government, with the remainder owned by an Australian pension scheme.
Development of new Airedale Hospital edges closer to design phase
Airedale Hospital has appointed P+HS Architects to lead a team of experts to help develop the design for the new hospital.
This will be based on the New Hospital Programme’s standardised approach to hospital building, dubbed Hospital 2.0.
Said to be a faster and more sustainable way of getting new hospitals up and running, the approach also prioritises “digital solutions and optimised hospital layouts”.
Alastair Stewart, securing the future programme director at Airedale Hospital, said that the team of specialists will help ensure that the new hospital is “fit for the future and designed to meet the needs of the communities we serve”.
Foluke Ajayi, Chief executive of Airedale Hospital, said that the design phase will enable the hospital to transform its vision into a reality. She continued:
“Our new hospital will transform the way we provide healthcare locally, as we look at making use of the latest technology and innovations and how we can deliver more care in community settings.”
Airedale Hospital is one of 16 hospitals that belong to wave 1 of the New Hospital Programme. These hospitals have been deemed priority builds, with Airedale Hospital’s existing building, which was built using RAAC (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete), having exceeded its 30-year lifespan by 20 years.
Construction of the new hospital is currently scheduled for 2027 to 2028. Its estimated that it will cost £1 billion to £1.5 billion to build.
The New Hospital Programme was established in 2020 by the previous Conservative government. A review of the programme by the new and current Labour government in January found that it was misleading, behind schedule and underfunded.
In the foreword to the review, the health secretary, Wes Streeting, said that he was shocked at the state of the programme and that patients had every right to be furious. He continued:
“This review was launched for two reasons. First, to put the programme on a firm footing with sustainable funding, so all the projects can be delivered. Second, to give patients an honest, realistic, deliverable timetable in which they can have confidence.
“Working closely with colleagues in [the] treasury, we have secured five-year waves of investment, ensuring that there is always a balanced portfolio of hospital schemes at different development stages being delivered now and into the future.”
In response to the review, The King’s Fund, a charity whose mission is to improve health and care in England, said that “hospital leaders were right to be sceptical that there was enough funding to deliver the 40 new hospitals programme by the 2030 deadline”.
Walkers are Welcome badge awarded to Ilkley
Ilkley has been designated as a Walkers are Welcome town, joining scores of other towns and villages in England, Wales and Scotland who have been recognised for being very walker-friendly.
Ilkley Business Improvement District (BID), which took the lead in applying for the accreditation, said that it was “absolutely thrilled” that the West Yorkshire town had become a member of this exclusive nationwide initiative. It added:
“The Ilkley BID team has worked hard to ensure Ilkley meets all the demanding criteria and gaining this accreditation demonstrates our deep commitment to boosting local businesses and enhancing visitor experience.”
As part of the application process, the steering group had to:
Demonstrate popular community support
Acquire formal local council endorsement
Show that public footpaths are well-maintained
Show that Ilkley is marketed as walker-friendly
Encourage the use of public transport for walks
Have a plan to build on the Walkers are Welcome status
Ilkley has long been a popular destination with walkers, with its unique geography in Wharfedale lending itself to all sorts of hikes, strolls and ambles.
Ilkley Moor, for instance, has many trails to discover, such as these heritage walks that have been curated by the Friends of Ilkley Moor.
Walkers are Welcome, a non-profit community interest community, began in 2007 with a mission to “encourage towns and villages to be welcoming to walkers”. It now has over 100 destinations signed up as members.
News in brief
West Yorkshire tram revival gets a massive funding boost
West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s plan to bring back trams to the region has secured £2.1 billion from the chancellor, Rachel Reeves. The mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, said: "The chancellor's backing means we now have the investment needed to bring trams back to the streets of Leeds and Bradford – improving public transport connections and boosting growth.”
ICO to look into Bradford Live complaint
A complaint made by the Telegraph & Argus to the Information Commissioner’s Office about Bradford Council’s reticence in responding to FOI requests from the newspaper about its settlement with the NEC Group over its withdrawal as operator of Bradford Live is now under investigation. The entertainment venue will finally open its doors in August.
Removal of discretionary income buffer for community care charges to be phased
Following a public consultation, Bradford Council has confirmed that it will now remove the discretionary income buffer for community care charges over a two-year period, rather than a single year. Sarah Ferriby, the council’s executive member for healthy people and places, said: “We are now having to make some difficult decisions about the services we provide so the council can move to a more financially sustainable future.”
Yorkshire Water targets 15% reduction in water leaks by 2030
Yorkshire Water has said that it aims to reduce water leaks from its clean water network by 15% over the next five years, with £16 million being earmarked for activities and initiatives to tackle this. This includes spending £2.5 million on advanced modelling and software, £2.5 million on acoustic loggers and £3 million to “onboard 100 extra colleagues to find and fix leaks”.
What we’re reading, watching, listening to
Read | The Last Action Heroes by Nick de Semlyen
The Last Action Heroes is a fun, easy-to-read and outlandish tale that charts the “triumphs, flops and feuds of Hollywood’s kings of carnage” – namely, Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Norris, Chan, Lundgren, Seagal, Van Damme and Willis. A top choice for anyone with an interest in cinema, as well as those of you who grew up as kids or young adults in the eighties and early nineties.
Watch | 100 Years of Solitude (Netflix)
Gabriel García Márquez’s seminal work of literature, documenting the triumphs, tragedies and absurdities of seven generations of the Buendía family in the fictional town of Macondo, thought to be unfilmable, finally made it to our TV screens in December. Has the wait paid off? We’ll let you be the judge of that. All that we’ll say is read or reread the book before you give it a shot.
Listen | Resignationcast: Zia Yusuf Quits Reform UK
Having been front and centre of Reform comms this week, Zia Yusuf suddenly announced on X that he’d resigned as its chairman. It came on the back of one of its MPs asking whether the burqa should be banned. This episode examines his impact on the once-fringe party and the fallout from his exit. As we “go to press”, he’s announced he’s back. Jeremy Hunt pops up, too. He’s got a book to promote.
Quote of the week
Free from the relative constraints of the chaotic Trump administration, Elon Musk, not known for mincing his words and shooting from his hip, has gone from being a chest-beating MAGA enthusiast to a big, loud and problematic antagonist. His latest fixation? Trump’s “big, beautiful bill”, which will, according to non-partisan analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, add $2.4 trillion to US debt.