Sir Jon Cunliffe: put public ownership back on the table!
Sir Jon Cunliffe Former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, Chair of the Independent Water Commission
82% of us want our water to be brought back in public hands.
But instead of putting that solution front and centre of the “largest review of the water sector since privatisation”, the Government has taken it off the table from the very start.
This Independent Review isn’t a genuine democratic consultation. It’s a closed-door exercise, led by former Treasury official Sir Jon Cunliffe - originating from the very department that’s been exposed trying to block public ownership behind the scenes.
And now, with the release of the interim report, the Review is delivering exactly what it was always designed to: false solutions dressed up as bold reforms. But really, it’s just tinkering around the edges.
Sir Jon Cunliffe believes the water industry should aim to restore “investor confidence” - i.e., rewire the system just enough for the Ponzi scheme to stagger on for a while longer.
But we know privatisation is the fundamental reason why water is in crisis.
Bills are rising, rivers are choking with sewage, and the system is failing to meet the challenge of climate breakdown - all the while shareholders rake in billions. Without changing the ownership model, these problems won’t go away.
We have one last chance - before the final report is published - to speak up and demand better.
That’s why I’ve written an Open Letter to Sir John Cunliffe, with one clear demand: listen to the public. Put public ownership of water back on the table.
Will you add your voice to the growing tide, and show the Government just how serious the call for public water is?
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To:
Sir Jon Cunliffe Former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, Chair of the Independent Water Commission
From:
[Your Name]
Dear Sir Jon,
I am writing to you regarding the ongoing work of the Independent Water Commission, which you were appointed to chair following its establishment in October 2024. This review, described as “the largest review of the water sector since privatisation”, comes in response to growing public concern and an urgent demand for reform.
This could be a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fully assess the long-term impacts of water privatisation in England and Wales and consider bold changes to the structure and governance of this vital public utility. I am therefore concerned that the scope of the Commission has, from the outset, been too limited to effect real change.
In its founding statement, the Commission declared that it would only focus on "reforms that improve the privatised regulated model." Such a restriction risks undermining the ambition and integrity of the review, by excluding an evidence-based examination of public ownership as a potential pathway forward.
Polling consistently shows that 82% of the English public support returning water to public ownership. This overwhelming sentiment is informed by lived experience. I also note that organisations such as Compass, Up Sewage Creek, Ilkley Clean River, and the Henley Mermaids have submitted evidence in support of public ownership in response to the Commission’s Call for Evidence - 38 Degrees ran their own survey on the issue in which 88% of the 28,000 respondents called for public ownership. Their contributions reflect the views of communities that have seen first-hand the failures of the current model.
Over recent decades, the privatised model has seen billions of pounds paid out in dividends to shareholders while underinvestment in infrastructure has led to increased bills, deteriorating services, and a disgraceful rise in pollution of our rivers and seas.
Access to clean water is a basic human right. The sector should be driven by the needs of people and the environment, not by profit margins. Public ownership would enable long-term investment, ensure democratic control, and help restore trust in our institutions at a time when such trust is critically needed.
I therefore urge you to reconsider the Commission’s current mandate and to formally include the option of public ownership within the scope of your review. To ignore this would be to disregard the clear and growing will of the public and to miss an essential opportunity for transformative change.
Yours sincerely,
Clive Lewis MP