Enough is Enough: East Riding Residents Foot the Bill for Yorkshire Water’s Failure

The East Riding Liberal Democrats are today condemning the "outrageous" decision to hike household water bills by 5.6% this April.
​At a time when families across our region are already struggling with the cost of living, 

Yorkshire Water has confirmed that average bills will rise once again. While the company claims this will fund an £8.3bn investment programme, local residents are left asking why they are being asked to pay more for a service that continues to fail our environment.

​A Broken System Rewarding Failure
​The 5.6% increase, approved by Ofwat in December 2024, sits comfortably above inflation. It comes despite ongoing public fury over the state of our local waterways and the "morally bankrupt" practice of executive bonuses.

​Tom Gordon, Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, has been leading the charge in Parliament, recently calling for the resignation of Yorkshire Water CEO Nicola Shaw.

​"This is a broken system that rewards failure while customers and the environment pick up the bill. For years, water companies have been allowed to pollute our rivers, hike bills, and fail their customers—all while those at the top face no real consequences. I’ve made it clear: Nicola Shaw should resign, and water bosses who break the law must face criminal consequences."— Tom Gordon MP

​Local Impact: Pollution Doubling in the East Riding
​The bill hike is particularly galling for residents in the East Riding, where the "sewage scandal" is not just a headline, but a daily reality. Local analysis reveals a shocking decline in performance.

​Cllr Phil Redshaw (Cottingham North), who has consistently challenged Yorkshire Water at the Council’s Environment and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee, highlighted that storm overflow discharge hours in our area have more than doubled since 2021.

​"Residents deserve honest answers and real progress, not just new promises. We are seeing more incidents and longer discharge hours. I am pressing Yorkshire Water for a site-by-site action plan for East Yorkshire because people have a right to know when their local rivers will finally be fixed."
​— Cllr Phil Redshaw

​The Liberal Democrat Plan: Clean Water and Real Accountability
​While Yorkshire Water justifies this price hike by pointing to infrastructure projects—such as their £38m plan for leakage reduction, the replacement of 353km of mains, the installation of 350,000 smart meters, and a wider £1.5bn investment to reduce storm overflow discharges, the Liberal Democrats believe that shareholders and highly paid executives, not struggling families, should be the ones paying to fix the mess they created.

​The Liberal Democrats are campaigning for a fundamental overhaul of the water industry to put an end to "Rip-off Britain." Our policy platform includes:
​Abolishing Ofwat: Replacing the "toothless" regulator with a new Clean Water Authority with the power to ban bonuses and issue massive fines.
​Public Benefit Companies: Transforming water firms into "Social Enterprise" models so they must prioritize environmental outcomes over shareholder dividends.
​A "Sewage Tax": Implementing a 16% tax on water company profits to fund the cleanup of our rivers and lakes.
​Mandatory Monitoring: Ensuring every single sewage overflow is monitored in real-time, with data made public immediately.


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