Jeremy Hunt has condemned Thames Water’s plea for elevated family payments within the face of potential insolvency as “totally outrageous.”

Amidst rising considerations over the utility firm’s monetary woes, the Chancellor emphasised shareholders’ accountability to rectify the state of affairs fairly than burdening customers.

Addressing constituents at a public assembly in his South West Surrey constituency, Hunt expressed sturdy opposition to the notion of households bearing the brunt of poor administration and monetary missteps by Thames Water shareholders. He asserted, “It will be totally outrageous and completely unfair if we have been made to choose up the tab.”

Hunt’s remarks come amidst mounting strain on the Authorities to intervene as Thames Water’s mother or father firm, Kemble, missed an curiosity fee on a £400 million mortgage. With the utility big serving 16 million households throughout the UK, considerations over potential insolvency have escalated.

David Black, CEO of Ofwat, assured on Friday that prospects wouldn’t be held accountable for Thames Water’s administration failures, though he didn’t rule out the potential of elevated payments.

Talking on the sidelines, Hunt reiterated his stance, emphasizing that constituents shouldn’t be obligated to bail out shareholders for his or her poor choices. He harassed the significance of Thames Water taking accountability and resolving the disaster internally.

Chris Weston, Thames Water’s CEO, echoed a dedication to salvaging the enterprise amid ongoing discussions with Ofwat relating to the corporate’s monetary outlook.

The water firm’s challenges are multifaceted, with hovering curiosity funds, credit standing downgrades, and hefty fines from the Atmosphere Company for environmental violations. Thames Water’s liquidity, whereas substantial at £2.4 billion, faces depletion as a consequence of mounting debt finance prices and impending fines.

The current water outage within the Godalming and Guildford areas following Storm Ciarán prompted additional scrutiny, with constituents expressing frustration over the shortage of entry to water and insufficient compensation for affected events.

Hunt’s condemnation underscores the urgency for Thames Water to deal with its monetary predicament responsibly, sparing customers from bearing the burden of its failures.