01/06/2026
Response back from Emma Hardy MP answering the questions posed in the letter sent last week - regarding the state of our water infrastructure in the district and the operation of South East Water.
Dear Cllr Dawkins,
Thank you for your letter of 28 May regarding water supply interruptions affecting communities in Canterbury, Whitstable, Herne Bay and surrounding areas.
I fully recognise the seriousness of the issues you raise. Access to reliable, clean water is essential for households, businesses and agriculture, and the disruption experienced by residents in your area is clearly unacceptable. The impacts on vulnerable people, local businesses, and farming communities are of particular concern.
The Government expects water companies to provide a secure and resilient supply of water at all times, including during periods of increased demand. I understand that these outages have caused significant distress, especially given they have occurred ahead of the peak summer period, and I appreciate the concerns this raises about preparedness for the coming months.
I note the important questions you have raised on behalf of your residents. I have
addressed your questions in turn below and I will ensure officials continue to raise these
concerns with the company.
1. Can South East Water demonstrate that it has a credible deliverable plan to meet future demand without imposing recurring restrictions on existing residents? Is the current infrastructure fit for purpose?
South East Water's current performance is unacceptable, and we are working closely with regulators to drive improvements. The company has been found to be in serious breach of its licence and is subject to multiple ongoing enforcement proceedings via Ofwat and the DWI. Regulators have identified problems with the company's approach to maintaining the health of its infrastructure and are actively enforcing against potential breaches of its statutory obligations. Ofwat, the DWI and the Environment Agency are working jointly to challenge South East Water's performance.
South East Water is funded to deliver the necessary improvements to its network with an agreed business plan totalling £1.9bn for the 2025-2030 period. Regulators are monitoring its delivery and expenditure closely.
The Water Delivery Taskforce, which I chair, summoned David Hinton, then CEO of
South East Water, to answer for lack of delivery threatening local plans and new housing in April 2026. South East Water committed to working with Defra, MHCLG and regulators to ensure that new housing could be delivered, whilst ensuring existing supply is not threatened, with updates due monthly to Minister Hardy.
We expect South East Water to show credible leadership, a robust plan and early
evidence of delivery. The company is already subject to enhanced monitoring, and enforcement action. If it does not make urgent progress, regulators are ready to escalate their oversight of the company.
2. What robust emergency resilience measures are actually in place if shortages
worsen during the summer and why did they fail to prevent widespread
disruption again?
The Security and Emergency Measures Direction (SEMD 2022) requires water
companies to make, keep under review, test and revise plans to ensure the continuation
of their water supply functions, and ensure they have the necessary capability, capacity
and facilities to implement their plans. In the event of an unavoidable failure of supply,
companies must ensure that a minimum supply of safe drinking water is provided by
alternative means.
The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) regulate water company performance against SEMD requirements and have a range of enforcement options for non-compliance. These include the ability to serve companies with enforcement orders. DWI enforcement against South East Water for the multiple failings experienced in late 2025 and early 2026 should lead to improved resilience measures in the longer term, but the scale of the changes required will take time to implement. In the meantime, Government expects South East Water to take urgent action to improve the robustness of its contingency plans to meet SEMD obligations.
3. Why are customers being asked to pay ever higher bills when essential services
continue to fail and public confidence in the company’s performance is non- existent?
Customer bills are set independently by Ofwat through the Price Review process and are rising in part to fund essential investment in infrastructure and long-term resilience. However, Government is clear that customers should not pay for poor performance.
Where companies fall short, they face financial penalties and must compensate
customers under strengthened rules, where payments have more than doubled.
Alongside this, we are introducing further measures to rebuild public confidence,
including a new Water Ombudsman to ensure complaints are resolved fairly and to drive improvements in service across the sector.
4. What support is there for local businesses when they cannot operate or trade because of these issues and therefore lose valuable income?
We have strengthened protections for both households and businesses through reforms to the Guaranteed Standards Scheme (GSS), with compensation payments more than doubled for supply interruptions and related failures. Businesses are now entitled to
automatic payments where service standards are not met, including £100 for initial outages and further payments for continued disruption, up to twice their annual bill. South East Water must ensure this compensation is paid promptly and in full.
I hope this provides reassurance that the Government is actively addressing these issues with the company and regulators, and will continue to hold South East Water to account.
I will continue to monitor developments closely and ensure that appropriate action is taken.
My officials will continue to meet daily with South East Water, including over the weekend, to monitor the situation and press for rapid resolution.
Thank you for taking the time to write and for representing the concerns of your community.
Yours sincerely,
EMMA HARDY MP
