Tuesday 12th December at 14.30
Committee Room 6, Palace of Westminster
Watch live on Parliamentlive.tv
The Interim Co-Chief Executive Officers of Thames Water will return to give evidence before the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee next week, to answer MPs’ questions on Thames Water’s financial arrangements, in light of recent news reports surrounding the firm’s finances.
The cross-party Committee will seek clarification on evidence submitted by witnesses in a hearing in July, in which MPs were told that the company’s shareholders had provided £500 million of equity. While the joint interim CEOs and the Chair of Thames Water have written to the EFRA Committee Chair on this matter, the Committee is keen to interrogate the full nature of this financing. MPs will also attempt to shed light on the future financial viability of Thames Water.
In the session the Committee will also question Ofwat’s CEO, David Black, and the regulator’s Chair, Iain Coucher.
Dr Neil Hudson MP, Member of the EFRA Select Committee said:
“Our Commons EFRA Select Committee takes the quality of water in this country incredibly seriously. We have scheduled an emergency public parliamentary session this week to question the leadership of Thames Water about the ongoing concerns regarding their financial situation.”
"In addition we have called the leadership of the water regulator OfWat to our session, so that we can ask what they are doing to hold water companies to account for the quality and supply of clean water, and the stamping out of unacceptable sewage discharges into our precious waterways.”
Witnesses:
From 14.30 on Tuesday 12 December in Committee Room 6, Palace of Westminster:
- Alastair Cochran, Interim Co-CEO at Thames Water
- Cathryn Ross, Interim Co-CEO at Thames Water
- Sir Adrian Montague CBE, Chair of Thames Water
From approx. 15.30:
- David Black, CEO at Ofwat
- Iain Coucher, Chair of Ofwat