Scotland’s public water model highlights flaws in England’s privatized system
A column contrasts Scotland’s publicly owned water utility with England’s privatized companies, citing higher investment, lower bills and better service in Scotland.
Recent headlines have highlighted soaring executive pay at England’s water companies, totaling £25.3 million across 14 firms, alongside mounting consumer bills and frequent illegal sewage discharges. The author traces these problems to the 1989 privatisation under Margaret Thatcher, which generated £57 billion in dividends for largely foreign shareholders. In contrast, Scotland retained public ownership of its water system; between 2002 and 2019 it spent 35 % more per household on infrastructure, offers rates 14 % lower than England and does not distribute dividends.
Scottish Water’s CEO earns over £500 k, a figure the author deems modest compared with English counterparts, and the utility funds free public drinking water stations that have saved the equivalent of 15 million plastic bottles by 2022. The column stresses that clean water is a public-health necessity, citing warnings from England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty about sewage-related illness, and argues that water should remain a publicly provided service rather than a profit-driven commodity.
Why it matters
It shows how public ownership can deliver cheaper, safer water compared with profit-focused privatization.
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