Water company to face serious charges
December 1, 2007
In the latest scandal to hit the water industry a Midlands water company is facing serious fraud charges after it was found to have been involved in the biggest overcharging scandal in Britain.
Severn Trent Water is facing charges from the Serious Fraud Office over its role in the scandal. A group of Severn Trent directors will face the wrath of the Serious Fraud Office, and this includes Labour friend and former chairman Sir David Arculus. Mr Arculus was the president of the Confederation of British Industry, but had to give this up as a result of the scandal.
Over recent months other water companies, Thames Water and Southern Water, have been fined a total of £32 million as a result of misleading the water regulator Ofwat. Now Sever Trent also faces three charges to providing information that deliberately misled the water regulator in a bid to justify the higher charges imposed to households. Authorities found out about the misleading information from a whistleblower within the company.
Last year Severn Trent Water was fined a record breaking £42 million as a result of providing misleading data to Ofwat, and was also forced to provides refunds to over three million households. The charges brought against the water company now are believed to be that the company provided false information to a regulator. According to recent reports complaints over water bills have soared recently, with complaints flooding in about various water suppliers. One industry official stated: ‘We have a right as consumers to expect high quality customer service - even though water companies are monopolies and therefore most consumers have absolutely no choice over their supplier.’
Alan Wright
1st December 2007
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