Yorkshire Water is under fire after Ofwat proved unable to take action as Chief Executive, Nicola Shaw, took over £1 million via an offshore company.
The payment, under “group services” for parent company Kelda Holdings, is legal, however campaign groups and councillors are calling it morally bankrupt.
The Ofwat report did not explain whether they fully understood what these payments were for, with press releases around the new report putting the emphasis on the fact that £4m potential bonuses were blocked.
The North Yorkshire Green Party says that this positive spin is actually an indication of regulatory failures and serious pollution breaches. The Ofwat report also rather loosely refers to ‘consulting to include’ transparency on pay in future company reporting requirements.
Andy Brown, Councillor for Aire Valley and speaking for the North Yorkshire Green Party said:
The initially concealed payment of over a million pounds to the Chief Executive of Yorkshire Water via an offshore business for obscure services may be legal but it is immoral and unjustifiable.
If Yorkshire Water and its Chief Executive think that it is acceptable to put up customers’ bills whilst making payments that show utter disregard for the feelings of their customers then they are not fit to manage a public service.
I call on the Chief Executive to resign in shame and the company to be so tightly regulated that such practices can never happen again.
Councillor Kevin Foster said:
During the general election, I strongly campaigned for our water authorities to return to public ownership and this situation shows exactly why.
It’s shocking that a CEO can be rewarded for poor performance while local people are dealing with the consequences – and it’s an insult to groups like Save our Swale, Nidd Action Group and the Aire Rivers Trust, who are working so hard to clean up our rivers.
A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said:
Following Ofwat’s review into disclosures regarding remuneration across Yorkshire Water and Kelda Group, the regulator has confirmed that the arrangements are compliant with legislation on performance related pay.
We remain fully committed to being open and transparent about executive pay.
We recognise the importance of transparency to customers and stakeholders, and as a result we have already committed to:
- Disclosing Kelda fees in the Yorkshire Water’s future accounts
- Aligning our reporting of executive pay with listed company requirements
- Enhancing our performance reporting, so that progress can be tracked more easily
- Expanding the direct engagement between our Board members and elected representatives.
Our focus remains on improving performance and delivering better outcomes for customers, communities and the environment.
Under Nicola’s leadership and shareholder engagement, investors have provided £500m of new equity to Yorkshire Water, with further investment expected before March 2027.
Over the next five years we will invest £8.3bn — around £3.2m every day — to improve service, reduce pollution and modernise Yorkshire’s water network.
Yorkshire Water has already been barred from paying bonuses this year after Ofwat found it guilty of a Category 1 pollution offence, breaching sewer duties, and after a further offence racked up £36.9 million in fines – although those fines were waived “in lieu of undertakings from the company”.
Ofwat’s 2024–25 Executive Pay Assessment report referred to in this Press Release is here (Yorkshire Water page 11)
The report also says [Yorkshire Water’s sewage breaches in March 2025 were] “offences were severe enough for Ofwat to judge it warranted a financial penalty (£36.9 million), but we decided to accept undertakings from the company in lieu of the penalty worth £40 million.”
Yorkshire Water customers face one of the highest bill increases in the country for 2025–26, according to consumer campaign organisation CCW https://www.ccw.org.uk/our-work/price-review/how-much-will-my-water-and-sewerage-bills-increase-by-2030/
Yorkshire Water’s Statement of Significant Changes in Charges report 2025/2026, published in January 2025 shows that the average household bill in 2024/25 was £467 and in 2025/26 this rises to £602, equating to a 29% increase. It also shows that Sewerage bills are set to rise by between 35% – 44%. https://www.yorkshirewater.com/media/gzyjobmb/47388_yw_statement-of-siginificant-changes_digi_aw-final.pdf
