Burnham calls water industry 'broken'

Andy Burnham, the Labour Candidate for the Makerfield By-Election, has called the Water industry 'broken' but fell short of calling for the nationalisation of United Utilities, following a discussion with local residents about how they have been affected by flooding in their local area.

Speaking after meeting residents affected by flooding, Mr Burnham described the impact on local communities as unacceptable.

He said one resident had spoken about the fear caused by bad weather.

"The panic they get when they see the rain starting to come down. You can't live like that."

Mr Burnham added that tackling flood risk must be the priority.

He also questioned whether major regeneration and housing developments should proceed before long-term flood protection measures are delivered.

Mr Burnham said investment was beginning to arrive from different agencies, but argued there was still no joined-up plan capable of eliminating the risk.

"I don't believe major regeneration and house building, for instance, as proposed at South Hindley, can be justified when residents are facing flood risk this severe."

Andy Burnham looking at photos of the damage caused by the flooding. Credit: Alfie Garner/Roch Valley Radio

He added that resolving the issue should be a condition of any future large-scale development.

"This is a prerequisite to me before any further development, that this issue and this infrastructure is sorted out."

The mayor also used the visit to criticise the current water industry model, describing it as broken and arguing that customers were not seeing the benefits of higher bills.

"It's basically an industry where the shareholders never lose and the bill payers never win."

Asked about public ownership of water companies, Mr Burnham said stronger public control and tighter regulation of profits should be considered, alongside greater public ownership in the future.

The Labour mayor compared water companies to the deregulated bus system that operated in Greater Manchester before bus franchising was introduced.

"The industry, like buses were before we changed them, they're run for the private interest rather than the public interest."

Mr Burnham pointed to rising household bills and concerns about infrastructure investment as evidence that reform is needed.

"If you look at water, we have a situation where the bill payers here have just had major increases to pay. And yet they still haven't had the infrastructure."

Burnham speaking to local residents about the issues they have faced. Credit: Alfie Garner/Roch Valley Radio

Asked whether he would support nationalisation, Mr Burnham said public ownership was already a realistic prospect in some parts of the country. However, he stopped short of calling for immediate nationwide nationalisation, instead backing a gradual increase in public oversight and tighter controls over company profits.

"To make it affordable over the long term, I think you do have to look at stronger public control, stronger control over profits, but with a view to more public ownership as well across the country."

The comments place Mr Burnham at odds with the current position of the Labour government, which has focused on tougher regulation of water companies rather than committing to public ownership.

His intervention comes amid growing public concern over rising water bills, sewage discharges, infrastructure investment and flooding resilience across England.

Listen to a clip of Alfie Garner's Interview with Andy here

Here is the full list of candidates standing in the By-Election