Nusrat Ghani, MP for Wealden, has welcomed the news that Ofwat has opened an enforcement case into South East Water supply resilience and how it can work to ensure it upholds its general duty to customers.
The water services regulation authority Ofwat has opened an enforcement case into South East Water to investigate whether it has failed to develop and maintain an efficient water supply system. This follows multiple significant water supply incidents that have recently impacted thousands of South East Water customers including Wealden residents, who faced repeated problems with supply interruptions, low pressure, or no water supply at all in the run up to last Christmas and again this June.
Nusrat has been continuously campaigning for more investment from the company into Wealden’s infrastructure, better communication during incidents and better preparedness including clarity on which emergency services are being stood up during any supply issues, and full financial compensation following disruptive outages.
As a direct result of her persistent campaign following the December 2022 outages, over 400 additional customers who would otherwise miss out on payments were included in the compensation scheme. In addition to individual compensation pay-outs, Nusrat also secured a £50,000 Community Fund to support local charities.
Nusrat Ghani said: “I welcome the news that Ofwat has opened an enforcement case into South East Water supply resilience. Wealden residents have been failed too often by supply incidents and the levels of disruption they continue to face are unacceptable.
"We had an absolute failure of the company to stand up reserve services and emergency plans last Christmas and again in June this year. I’m pleased to have secured £50,000 for local charities and individual payments for over 400 more Wealden households that would have otherwise received none due to South East Water’s compensation chaos.
"There is more to be done and we need some serious scrutiny, and end to this appalling situation. I will follow the progress of this inquiry closely and continue pushing for large-scale investment from the company into Wealden’s infrastructure.”
