Southern Water CEO told to turn down ‘outrageous’ pay rise

It has been revealed that Southern Water has nearly doubled Chief Executive Lawrence Gosden’s pay package to £1.4 million.

The data was published in the company’s annual report, showing figures from its last financial year. It revealed that the boss had been awarded £691,000 under a “two-year long-term incentive plan”, on top of a fixed pay of £687,000.

This morning, speaking on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the environment secretary Steve Reed said that Gosden’s pay rise was “outrageous” and implored the company to “think about how this looks to their customers”.

Lawrence Gosden, Chief Executive at Southern Water (Image: The Argus/PA)

He said: “Trust between the customers and the water companies is at the lowest point probably ever, and by paying their senior executives rises of that kind, what message are they sending to their customers?

“I really would urge them to think about this very, very, very carefully.”

Asked whether Mr Gosden should turn down the pay rise, Mr Reed said: “I think it would be right if he did.”

He added: “I don’t think Southern Water has performed well enough for that kind of pay increase to be merited.”

The news comes as only last month the Labour party banned water companies from paying out bonuses if they didn’t meet regulator Ofwat’s standards. This included Southern Water.

The Environment Secretary speaking on the BBC this morning (Image: BBC / PA / Jeff Overs) The decision follows intense scrutiny over sewage leaks into Britain’s rivers and seas.

In May, two Sussex beaches received a “brown flag award” due to their poor quality of water.

Aldwick beach in Bognor and a section of Worthing beach received the rating due to bacteria such as e-coli from sewage and other waste being detected in its water samples.

The boss’s pay rise also comes as Southern allowed a 53% bill increase for its 4.7 million customers – the largest rise of any company in England and Wales.

Speaking to The Guardian, Gary Carter, a national officer at the GMB union, which represents water industry workers, said: “For Southern Water’s boss to trouser more than a million pounds after just announcing a hosepipe ban and losing millions of litres in leaks every single day is abhorrent.

“It encapsulates everything that’s wrong with our broken, privatised water system.”