“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.”

A £24m enforcement package for South West Water has been proposed after a three year investigation into its failures in managing wastewater treatment works and sewer networks.

Georgina Barnes www.bbc.co.uk

The Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat) said South West Water (SWW) had “recognised its failures” including failing to build and operate wastewater treatment works and sewer networks and not meeting its legal obligations.

Last month, one of SWW’s treatment works was the source of pollution that killed thousands of fish in a Cornish river.

SWW said it had proposed the “ringfenced investment programme” to be “funded by the company and shareholders and not our customers” – it had faced paying a fine of up to £19m.

The enforcement package will see £20m invested from 2025 to 2030 to reduce spills from specific storm overflows, the creation of a £2m local fund to tackle sewer misuse and misconnections and £2m to support environmental groups to deliver local improvements.

‘Put things right’

In January, the company announced plans to almost double its investment in the environment to £2.5bn between 2025 and 2030.

SWW CEO Susan Davy said it would take the necessary steps to address the failures Ofwat had identified.

She said: “I have always said that when things go wrong, it is how we respond and put things right and that is exactly what we are doing.

“In response to Ofwat’s findings, we have proposed a ringfenced investment programme of £24m to spend more to further reduce spills, tackle sewer misuse and establish a Nature Recovery Fund.

“This is in addition to the £760m we are already investing over the next five years to reduce the use of storm overflows across the region.”

In its investigation, Ofwat said 54% of SWW’s wastewater treatment works storm overflows had spilled on 20 or more occasions between 2020 and 2024.

It said SWW had “failed to demonstrate” the spills had happened in exceptional circumstances but said the company had already taken steps to address the operation of a range of its treatment works and storm overflows.

Lynn Parker, senior director for enforcement at Ofwat, said water companies would always be “held to account” if they failed to meet legal obligations.

She said: “Our investigation found a range of failures in how South West Water has gone about managing its wastewater business.

“As we continue to progress our sector-wide investigation, we are pleased that companies like South West Water are stepping up to acknowledge their failures and to put things right.

“We will continue to monitor the company to ensure that this work is carried out as quickly as possible so that customer confidence can begin to be restored.”

A consultation will be held to the public and key stakeholders before Ofwat’s final decision.

SWW Tanker operations resume in Exmouth – can’t blame the rain!

Earlier this week tankers have resumed operations taking sewage from the Maer Road pumping station holding tank to the sewage treatment plant at Maer Lane. 

10 or 11 tankers are waiting in line, part of the car park has been coned off and the operation seems to be continuing 24 hours. 

It is classed as an emergency but EDDC do not believe pollution to the beach is involved.

Simon Jupp, SWW Director of Communications, is a source of information and reassurance. – Owl

See latest post on:

Update on Snouts in the Water Trough

Susan Davy lands total annual pay package of £803,000 for 2024/25 despite losses

Holly Williams (Extract) www.independent.co.uk

The boss of South West Water owner Pennon has picked up a near-£200,000 share bonus despite the firm racking up losses after a water contamination crisis and amid painful bill hikes.

The water firm’s annual report revealed that chief executive Susan Davy was handed £191,000 in long-term share awards, with a total annual pay package of £803,000.

She had already faced criticism from MPs when she revealed in February that her pay had risen to £511,000 in 2024-25, from £492,000 the previous year in the wake of a parasite outbreak in Devon and rising cases of sewage spills.

Pennon, which also owns supplier SES Water, recently reported losses widening to £72.7 million for the year to the end of March from £9.1 million losses the previous year.

Last year’s incident in Brixham, south Devon, cost it about £21 million and pushed it deeper into an annual loss……

Thames Water Under Fire After Emergency Loan used to pay bonuses

Teddy Cambosa (Extract) www.ibtimes.co.uk 

Britain’s largest water utility, Thames Water, is embroiled in a financial scandal after revelations that the debt-laden company diverted funds from a £3 billion emergency loan to pay £2.46 million in ‘extravagant’ bonuses to senior managers, despite teetering on the brink of nationalisation.

A report from The Guardian stated that Thames Water used funds from an emergency loan to pay £2.46 million in bonuses to 21 managers, despite the loan being intended to keep the troubled company afloat.

These managers will receive the same payout in December and another £10.8 million next June, according to a letter from Chair Sir Adrian Montague to MPs, noting that the payments average over twice the recipients’ annual salaries.

It is worth noting that Thames Water paused the bonus plan in May after it was discovered that Montague had incorrectly informed MPs that creditors required the payouts. Ministers aimed to block such bonuses, but existing legislation only applies to top executives, leaving these significant retention payments legally unaffected…..

The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner was charged the highest interest rate out of all the other organisations the fire service lent money to in the previous financial year.

The short-term loan was part of a wider £22.5 million in borrowing,

Bradley Gerrard, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk

Devon’s police commissioner office has turned for the first time to the county’s fire service for £5 million in short-term loans.

The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) for Devon and Cornwall said it had borrowed money from its emergency services counterpart alongside other councils and pension funds.

The £5 million it borrowed from Devon and Somerset Fire & Rescue service in the year to April came with a seven per cent interest rate, although it was only for a short period of time.

Fire service documents show the term of the loan – the period within which it has to be paid back in – was a third of a month, suggesting it would have been paid off in 10 days or less.

Interestingly, the OPCC was charged the highest interest rate out of all the other organisations the fire service lent money to in the previous financial year, with the next highest being 5.7 per cent for a loan to West Northamptonshire Council, and the lowest being 4.45 per cent to Helaba, a German bank.

The OPCC said the money it borrowed was used to cover short term fluctuations in cashflow, with those periods being around five days.

In total in the 2024/25 financial year, the OPCC borrowed £22.5 million from a range of lenders, which were Kirklees Council in West Yorkshire, Hampshire Pension Fund, Hyndburn Borough Council in Lancashire, and the West Yorkshire Pension Fund. 

And it has borrowed £20.5 million in the current financial year that will end next April, the OPCC confirmed.

A spokesperson said the borrowing was part of “routine cashflow management”, essentially meaning that it needed to make sure it had enough money in its coffers to pay some outgoings before its next expected income.

It is common for local authorities, such as councils and police commissioner offices, to borrow money from similar authorities.

An OPCC spokesperson said: “As part of routine cashflow management, it is sometimes necessary to borrow money for short periods.

“Through our treasury management strategy, there are approved routes for doing this in the best value for money way, which includes borrowing from public sector partners.

“All short-term borrowing is repaid quickly and does not therefore add to the long term borrowing that is undertaken to finance capital projects, such as buildings, which is repaid over a longer period.

“The treasury management strategy is reviewed annually to ensure our approach represents the best value for taxpayers.”  

In the OPCC accounts for the 2024/25 financial year, it states that all long-term borrowing is taken from the Public Works Loan Board, which is part of the Treasury and is the main lender to local authorities.

The accounts add that all short-term borrowing is arranged from local authorities to cover short-term fluctuations in cash.
 

A Cornwall MP says he has become so frustrated with sewage pollution, he has put the Chief Executive of South West Water on what he has described as “resignation watch”.

www.itv.com

Noah Law, the MP for Newquay and St Austell, has said he is issuing a ‘final warning’ to Susan Davy, calling for her to take immediate action to upgrade the region’s sewage treatment infrastructure.

South West Water has responded that it has a 15-year delivery programme to reduce its use of storm overflows across its network and redesign its infrastructure – but it also says that work of that scale takes time.

Pennon, which owns South West Water, has said they recently met with the MP to go through their investment plan in his constituency.

Speaking to ITV News West Country in Pentewan, the MP said: “The sense of urgency just isn’t there from South West Water.

“Getting detail on the timeframes around this infrastructure upgrade has been like drawing blood from a stone and I want them to be extremely transparent with the public as to when they can expect to see some of that change which we’ve fought so hard for in Government and through the Water Special Measures Act.”

He added: “I’m pressing really hard to get that information on just when we are going to see those upgrades. A five-year timeframe isn’t good enough, people want to see action now.”

According to South West Water’s own figures, there were 134 spills from the water treatment works in Pentewan last year.

Elsewhere in the region, MP for Taunton and Wellington Gideon Amos carried out water testing on the River Tone in a designated bathing water spot.

The result was a reading of ‘poor’ quality and the MP says water companies should be making cleaner rivers a priority.

The boss of Pennon Group and South West Water CEO, Susan Davy, received a total pay package of more than £800,000 in 2023-24, including almost 200,000 in long-term share awards.

Meanwhile, customers’ yearly bills rose by around a third from April this year.

A spokesperson for Pennon said: “We run critical national infrastructure and have embarked on our largest ever investment programme across our Group – £3.2bn – which spans from Cornwall to Surrey – 11 of these major projects are in Mr Law’s constituency.

“We are prioritising our investment on what customers have told us are most important to them and to help us deliver on what we promised; to reduce the use of storm overflows, ensuring water resilience and supply, investing in vital infrastructure, supporting customers more than ever and taking a green first approach to our solutions as much as possible.”

They added: “We live and work in this region and care deeply about what we all do every single day – we are also customers of South West Water. “Our 4,000 brilliant colleagues work hard day and night to keep taps running and toilets flushing, we will not stop and we will continue to deliver on our promises.”

Does this mean police resources locally will be concentrated in just Exmouth and Exeter? – Owl

Home Office www.gov.uk (Extract)

Thousands of shoppers and businesses will see increased police presence, stronger prevention and enforcement action by police and councils to support safer high streets this summer.   

Over recent years street crime has sky-rocketed, with theft from the person more than doubling between December 2022 and December 2024, and there has been record levels of shop theft, up by more than 60% – with offenders increasingly using violence and abuse against shopworkers.

This marks a key step in delivering the government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, which from July will see named, contactable officers in every community, increased peak time patrols in town centres and anti-social behaviour leads in every force.  

Commissioned by the Home Secretary, Police and Crime Commissioners across England and Wales have developed bespoke local action plans with police, businesses and local councils to crackdown on crime this summer.  

The aim is to support town centres to be vibrant places where people want to live, work and spend time, and restore faith in community policing after years of declining police officer presence on Britain’s streets.  

These plans include increased visible town centre policing and ramping up the use of targeted enforcement powers against troublemakers – including banning perpetrators from hotspots.  

The summer initiative will also support young people, making sure there are activities across the 500 towns for young people to be involved in throughout the holidays. 

The Home Office, alongside police, retailers and industry are also launching a new Tackling Retail Crime Together Strategy, which will use shared data to assist in disrupting not just organised criminal gangs, but all types of perpetrators including prolific offenders who are stealing to fund an addiction and ‘opportunist’ offenders. 

Creating thriving town centres where businesses and communities can flourish supports the government’s growth mission, raising living standards, backing local economies and supporting communities. 

Initiatives taking place this summer include:  

• in Humberside, police are using real-time mapping to deliver dynamic patrols to target emerging problem locations while reassuring local communities
• in Devon and Cornwall, police are embedding specialist anti-social behaviour lawyers to fast-track enforcement activity
• in Derbyshire, police have developed a Night Time Economy Charter to help deliver consistent proactive policing and coordinated management across the four largest local town centres
• in Wales, Dyfed-Powys Police are targeting seasonal, tourist towns through early police visibility, deterrence and community reassurance
• in Nottinghamshire, police have introduced a new diversionary intervention programme for Out of Court Resolutions with conditions attached for problem offenders

Towns signing up in Devon and Cornwall:

Truro; Cornwall (South West; England)	Devon & Cornwall
Exeter; Exeter (South West; England)	Devon & Cornwall
Plymouth; Plymouth (South West; England)	Devon & Cornwall
Penzance; Cornwall (South West; England)	Devon & Cornwall
Falmouth; Cornwall (South West; England)	Devon & Cornwall
Newquay; Cornwall (South West; England)	Devon & Cornwall
Barnstaple; North Devon (South West; England)	Devon & Cornwall
Tiverton; Mid Devon (South West; England)	Devon & Cornwall
Torquay; Torbay (South West; England)	Devon & Cornwall
Paignton; Torbay (South West; England)	Devon & Cornwall
Exmouth; East Devon (South West; England)	Devon & Cornwall
Newton Abbot; Teignbridge (South West; England)	Devon & Cornwall
Bideford; Torridge (South West; England)	Devon & Cornwall
St Austell; Cornwall (South West; England)	Devon & Cornwall
Trelowarren Street; Camborne; Cornwall (South West; England)	Devon & Cornwall
Bodmin	Devon & Cornwall

No, not Simon Jupp but Anne Marie Morris, ejected by the voters of Newton Abbot in favour of Martin Wrigley MP Lib Dem. Owl

Guy Henderson www.devonlive.com

A former Devon Conservative MP who was suspended for using racist language has joined Reform UK.

Anne Marie Morris represented Newton Abbot from 2010 to 2024 when her 17,500 majority was overturned by Liberal Democrat Martin Wrigley.

Now she will work on developing social care policy for Nigel Farage’s right wing party.

She first had the Tory party whip removed by then-prime minister Theresa May in 2017 after using racist language in a discussion on Brexit. She said the consequences of having no exit deal were the ‘n***** in the woodpile’.

At the time she apologised and said it had been an unintentional slip. The party whip was returned after six months.

She later lost it again after backing a Labour move to cut VAT on energy bills.

Ms Morris explained her decision to join Reform, saying: “The country is in a desperate position. I believe now it is Reform UK that offers the vision and leadership Britain so badly needs. I want to play my part in delivering that vision.”

Her arrival among the party ranks was welcomed by Reform chairman David Bull, who said: “We are delighted. She brings a wealth of experience with her and will be a crucial part in developing the party’s social care policy as we look to build our policy platform ahead of the next general election.

“Anne Marie is just one of many who realise that Reform UK is the only party that can stop this damaging Labour government in its tracks.”

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said Ms Morris’ language had been ‘abhorrent’ and the people of Newton Abbot had made their views clear.

In a statement she said: “The mask has slipped, exposing Farage’s hollow claims of dragging his party into the mainstream. That Reform is embracing someone who has used such abhorrent language speaks volumes: they are the company they keep.

“Ms Morris’ constituents already made their views clear when they ejected her at the general election in favour of a hardworking local Liberal Democrat champion. The public will view Farage’s decision to elevate someone with such an appalling track record to the core of the Reform party with similar contempt.”