“The time was right to pass leadership to a new generation” after nearly three decades in the water sector.” She is quoted as saying!

South Devon’s MP Caroline Voaden said “this decision should have come a lot sooner”.

We have yet hear from Director of Communications Simon Jupp – Owl

ITV News www.itv.com 

South West Water Chief Executive Officer Susan Davy will step down from her role and retire from Pennon Group’s board, bringing an end to her 18-year career with the water utility giant.

Ms Davy has been CEO of Pennon Group, the parent company of South West Water, since July 2020. Before that, she served as Chief Financial Officer for five years.

In a statement, she said that “the time was right to pass leadership to a new generation” after nearly three decades in the water sector.

Her retirement comes just a day after industry regulator Ofwat found a “range of failures” in how South West Water had managed its wastewater treatment works and sewer network.

Ofwat said South West Water (SWW) “failed to meet its legal obligations”, pointing to a lack of adequate management systems, including oversight from the senior leaders and board.

Lynn Parker, Ofwat’s Senior Director of Enforcement, said: “We’ve found significant failings that have led to more spills than the law allows over a significant number of years so we consider this to be systemic failings.

SWW has proposed spending £24 million under an “enforcement package” to target storm overflows, tackle sewer misuse, and provide funding for environmental groups.

This will be funded by the company and shareholders.

As a result, it has avoided being fined by Ofwat which would have been the lesser amount of £19 million – 6.5% of its annual turnover – going back to the Treasury.

This investigation is part of work by Ofwat and the Environment Agency to review all water and wastewater companies in England and Wales.

Reflecting on her decision to retire, Ms Davy said: “It has been an honour to serve as Chief Executive Officer of Pennon. Running a water company is always interesting, often challenging, but totally fulfilling.

“I have enjoyed taking responsibility for the provision of a sustainable service to millions of homes.”

Ms Davy highlighted that Ofwat’s recent approval of the company’s investment plans provided “a natural juncture” to retire from Pennon.

She added “This has been my life for the past 30 years, and now it’s right I hand this huge responsibility to the next generation of leaders.”

Ms Davy’s successor will be announced in due course.

What issues have South West Water faced?

• May 2025: the Government announced four criminal investigations will be carried out into SWW following hundreds of reports and complaints about sewage pollution on beaches.
• April 2025: hundreds of homes and businesses were left without water for several days after a burst water main in Plymouth. An Environment Agency report showed in 2024 SWW had 56,000 spills (28,000 in 2023). Duration of storm overflow usage increased to 544,000 hours (531,000 in 2023)
• March 2025: the Environment Agency won a case against SWW which tried to prevent 12 charges relating to sewage discharges in Cornwall being taken forward in a prosecution. It’s facing charges for illegal discharges and breaches of environmental permits including at Hooe Lake Sewage Pumping Station, Polperro Harbour and Bodmin Road Plymouth between 2016 and 2021.
• Nov 2024: SWW pleaded guilty to five charges relating to illegal water discharges and breaching environmental permits in Plymouth and Polperro.
• Sept 2024: More than 300 residents and businesses in Exmouth threatened legal action against SWW because of their concerns over sewage spills on the beach leading to a series of no-swim warnings.
• July 2024: SWW was ranked among the worst performing water companies in the UK with the Environment Agency’s assessment reading “requires improvement” after the company discharged sewage into rivers and seas more than 58,000 in the previous year.
• May 2024: More than 16,000 households and businesses in Brixham were told to boil their drinking water after the cryptosporidium parasite was found in the supply, leading to an outbreak of diarrhoea and vomiting. Two people were taken to hospital while hundreds of others fell ill.

South West Water treatment works

What is South West Water doing to address the issues?

South West Water has already taken some steps to address its compliance issues.

It says it has invested more than £16 million to remedy the 21 WWTW that failed to meet requirements.

It is in the process of delivering a storm overflow reduction plan investing to reduce spills and greater oversight of its compliance with environmental obligations.

Noah Law, MP for St Austell and Newquay, has had the company’s CEO Susan Davy on ‘resignation watch’ for some time.

He said: “I think they have a long standing plan in place for different asset management periods but what I want them to do now is accelerate that pace and show they know the sense of urgency residents have around this.

“I would urge a real caution of Susan Davy as to whether she looks at taking her bonus this year after all of this news.

When asked if Davy should resign, Louise Rowe, SWW’s Director of Compliance, said: “Susan became CEO in 2020. Under her leadership SWW has significantly upheld the governance, we’ve put hundreds of millions of pounds into the wastewater activities and all of that has been recognised by Ofwat in their report that improvements have happened.”

“We will continue to make the improvements needed where wastewater activity needs it across our beautiful region.”

What has the reaction been?

In a statement, South Devon’s MP Caroline Voaden said “this decision should have come a lot sooner”.

She said “Today’s announcement closes a sorry tenure as CEO of South West Water where Ms. Davy oversaw shocking levels of sewage spills, plummeting customer confidence, and a water contamination event that sent people to hospital.

“In truth, this decision should have come a lot sooner. The shocking report from Ofwat was clearly the straw that broke the camel’s back, and for me, epitomised the negligent attitude SWW has shown to the environment and its customers in the past five years.

“I look forward to meeting the new CEO of SWW when they are announced, and I hope they can learn from the systematic mistakes Ms Davy made throughout her time in post.”