£6.5m in Water Bonuses Blocked, but Bosses Are Still Being Paid to ‘Stay’

News | By Matt, Editor

Nine water companies were banned from paying their bosses bonuses last year, blocking more than £6.5m, Ofwat said yesterday. The same report shows several of them found other ways to pay.

Anglian Water’s parent company handed chief executive Mark Thurston a £500,000 “retention payment” in July 2025, the regulator’s report says. Ofwat says the amount and timing were similar to the bonus the ban had just blocked. A further £300,000 for him and £200,000 for the finance chief were due this July.

Metro, 13 November 2026, leads on £6.5m in bonuses blocked for nine water bosses under new rules, alongside claims some firms are finding ways around the restrictions. #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/FEavzREojU

Have your sayTap to comment— Andrew Clifford (@newcastlejourno) November 12, 2026

Ofwat said the payments “could give the impression” Anglian had offered a cash award “in a way that would not technically breach the rule and would in practice replace” the banned bonus. It is putting the company’s governance under closer watch.

Six firms now run these schemes. Thames Water’s finance chief can get up to £1m and Northumbrian Water’s chief executive up to £1.5m over five years. Ofwat says none count as performance pay, so the ban doesn’t touch them. Thames, also on the banned list, has lifted its chief executive’s base pay 14% and its finance chief’s 26% for this year.

Meanwhile the average household water bill went up £33 in April, to £639 a year.

Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle said: “The bonus ban was the first step. Where there are loopholes, I want them closed.” Ofwat’s call for evidence runs until 10 December, and any rule change needs a consultation next year. Ministers may also look at payments from parent companies, the Guardian reports.

Over £10 million in bonuses for water bosses blocked since June 2025.

Water company bosses must not be rewarded for failing the public.

That’s why we will begin a wide-ranging review of water boss pay and bonus ban loopholes. https://t.co/ZRgCsRluay pic.twitter.com/EjRvj5qjae

— Defra UK (@DefraGovUK) November 12, 2026

Andy Burnham has promised “more public control” of water but has yet to give details, the Guardian notes. The OBR’s sums put the debt cost at about £2,700 a household.

Our view: a ban that a parent company can get round with a cheque was never really a ban. Until a new rule lands next year, the “stay” money keeps flowing. Customers paying £639 a year deserve a ban that covers every payment, whatever it’s called.

Should water bosses at firms that broke pollution rules be barred from all extra payments, not just bonuses? Vote below.

Read more: Tice demands Burnham seize Thames Water for £1 amid executive pay outrage

Sources

• Ofwat, 12 November 2026: Nine companies triggered the bonus ban; £6.5m blocked; review and call for evidence
• Ofwat remuneration and governance report 2026: Retention payments table, Anglian Water findings, base pay increases
• Defra / GOV.UK, 12 November 2026: Dame Angela Eagle statement; call for evidence closes 10 December
• The Guardian, 12 November 2026: Parent-company payments under review
• Water UK: Average bill 2026-27: £639, up £33

Main image: Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle (pictured as Security Minister, June 2026), UK Home Office, CC BY 4.0; Thames Water’s head office, Clearwater Court, Reading, Gazamp, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons).