Councillor Praful Nargund

THAMES Water is a company in chaos.

As the government draws up contingency plans for its collapse and the chief executive makes her swift exit, its 15 million customers are left with leaky pipes and soaring bills.

This comes as water companies across the country prepare to push the cost of the sewage pollution crisis, which they created, onto customers who may face a 40 per cent hike in bills.

If only they could fix their pipes as quickly as Thames Water’s chief executive can leave the company.

Islington residents have long known that Thames Water is failing. Answers to my recent Environmental Information Request revealed that leaks in the borough have increased by nearly 50 per cent since 2012-13 to 886 in 2021-22.

This is more than in our neighbouring boroughs: there were 60 leaks per km² in Islington in 2021/22, nearly double the number in Camden (33 per km²) and 50 per cent more than in Hackney (40 per km²).

My analysis of the data suggests it took Thames Water an average of 19.7 days to repair leaks in Islington, nearly 3 days longer on average than in Camden (17.0 days), and significantly longer than in Hackney (11.1 days) during the year 2021-22.

The leaks and delays have caused significant damage and disruption to our residents.

Last year, following repeated leaks on Offord Road and a major leak on Tollington Road, Islington councillors scrutinised Thames Water’s performance at a committee meeting.

We criticised the slow progress of Thames Water, the lack of learning from the numerous mains leaks in Islington over the past few years and the anxiety caused to residents living with the risk of further damage.

Thames Water were forced to agree to fix the problem on Offord Road, and as Barnsbury councillors we continue to hold them to account.

As a Labour group, we passed a motion in September last year calling on Thames Water to urgently invest in infrastructure to avoid further leaks, and to bring the water industry back into public ownership.

Ministers must now step in and mop up the mess: Thames Water is not just another private company that can be left to collapse.

We all need clean, reliable and affordable water.

The answer lies in a special administration regime for Thames Water, which means that the company is run as a public service, not a cash cow.

We need the public good to be put above private profit.

There is a mammoth task ahead to replace the crumbling network of Victorian pipes and deliver a reliable water system worthy of one of the world’s greatest cities.

And we will continue to keep watch on Thames Water in Islington, pressuring them to invest in our infrastructure and properly serve our residents.

• Praful Nargund is a Labour councillor elected in Barnsbury ward last year