CITY AM – Sorry seems to be the hardest word
Thames Water crisis: Ofwat boss refuses to apologise for water industry debt crisis
CITY AM SAYS Ofwat’s former boss yesterday refused to apologise for allowing the water industry to rack up an eye-watering £65bn debt mountain, which has led to Thames Water’s desperate scramble to secure funds and avoid collapse.
“I won’t apologise for my role at Ofwat, no,” Cathryn Ross said, during yesterday’s grilling with MPs when Labour MP Darren Jones scrutinised her record.
As chief executive of Ofwat for four years between 2013 and 2017, Ross signed off the watchdog’s price review in 2014, which enabled former Thames Water owner Macquarie to hike the supplier’s debts from £3bn to £10bn before later selling the company.
She is now interim co-chief executive of Thames Water, following the troubled company’s boardroom exodus and pressing financial difficulties – which has seen the UK’s largest supplier scramble to secure £750m in funds from stakeholders as it struggles beneath a £14bn debt pile.
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