The Lemon Fool

As expected, my Severn Trent Water bill has increased. What is Ofwat doing allowing a 15% increase?

Surely you're not begrudging the execs their bonuses?

The water companies are the very worst examples of the privatised monopolies.

I expect the ofwat and water company websites will tell you all about it.

Of course, a monopoly provider whose prices are determined by a regulator is a long, long way from the market economy that most still preach. I'm not sure how valid the reasons originally were for privatisation (something must be done - this is something?) but the structures created at the time are clearly overdue an update.

UncleEbenezer wrote:I expect the ofwat and water company websites will tell you all about it.

Of course, a monopoly provider whose prices are determined by a regulator is a long, long way from the market economy that most still preach. I'm not sure how valid the reasons originally were for privatisation (something must be done - this is something?) but the structures created at the time are clearly overdue an update.

The reason for privatizing the water companies was much the same as PFI's introduced by Labour. It's to raise a lot of new money for investment, without it appearing on the country's balance sheet, in the form of increased public borrowing. There was always a bit of an argument for introducing private management and cost control skills. But fundamentally, the water industry doesn't lend itself to a competitive environment.