The boss of South East Water should not receive a bonus after tens of thousands of its customers were recently left without water, the Environment Secretary has said.
David Hinto was awarded £115,000 last year on top of his £400,000 salary, and his bonus is in line to more than double this year.
That is despite repeated and extended water outages and multiple ongoing regulatory investigations into the supplier.
Speaking to the BBC, Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said: “Poorly performing water bosses should not be receiving a bonus and South East water is the poorest performer.”
Up to 30,000 properties in the south of England had no water last week, at the height of the issues, which prompted a first-of-its-kind investigation into SEW by regulator Ofwat.
For some homes, it was the second time in six weeks they were left without water supply.
SEW was repeatedly criticised during the crisis for its lack of clear communication, with the deadline for restoring supplies extended multiple times.
This month, a regulator said SEW was “flying blind” for weeks before the crisis.
BBC News has contacted SEW for comment.
Reynolds’s comments come a day before the government unveils a major overhaul of the troubled water industry.
It has already vowed to abolish the existing regulator Ofwat and replace it with a new watchdog.
The industry has faced severe criticism in recent years over rising bills and poor environmental records.
Water bills are due to rise steeply until 2030 to fund upgrades to the water system.
In November, six companies were blocked from paying bonuses to bosses over serious pollution incidents and other performance issues, under new powers introduced last year. SEW was not one of them.
A month before that, all but two companies in England and Wales were ordered to refund more than £260m to customers for poor performance.
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