Axminster MP raises residents' concerns over poor performance of South West Water in parliament

Local MP Richard Foord has raised concerns from constituents in Seaton, Axminster, and Beer about the poor performance of South West Water in parliament and called for tougher action to make them clean up their act. 

In a debate in Westminster Hall, the Liberal Democrat MP for the Tiverton & Honiton constituency highlighted numerous letters he has received over the past few months about the poor performance of the water company – which is one of the worst performing water companies in the whole country. 

These concerns include the huge bonuses and dividends being paid out by the company, the failure to fix leaking pipes, and chronic underinvestment in sewers and drains across the West Country. 

In his closing remarks, Mr Foord said that the company was not being run for the benefit of local communities and called for replacing the current regulator Ofwat with a new body that has more power to properly police the actions of negligent water firms. 

Speaking after the debate, Mr Foord said: "South West Water is the worst performing water company in the country. They're continuing to hike bills while failing to fix their leaking pipes and allowing hundreds of thousands of hours of sewage dumping to pollute our rivers and beaches. 

"It's not surprising that so many people feel they are being ripped off and are not getting the service they pay for. The three examples I raised today in parliament were just some of the deluge of complaints I have received about the company's performance. 

"What's worse is that the Conservative government has allowed this to happen. They've repeatedly hollowed out the Environment Agency's budget, undermining their ability to monitor the situation, and failed to ensure that Ofwat responds properly to water companies' inaction. 

"Warm words plus a suggestion that there might be large fines in the future are not enough to fundamentally change the situation. We need to see real action to hold negligent water companies to account and make them clean up their act. 

"We need to put South West Water on notice and show that unless things change quickly, there will be consequences."  

South West Water was given a one star rating, out of four possible stars, for water pollution in the UK's annual Environmental Performance Assessment for 2021, which found the company required "significant improvement".

The government's water company regulator OFWAT also announced in June 2022 that it would be launching an investigation into South West Water because of concerns regarding their sewage treatment.

South West water has said it is committed to reduce permitted sewage discharges into rivers.