The Appeal Court has announced that it will not overturn the High Court decision to allow Thames Water to add £3 billion debt to the almost £19 billion it has already taken on at billpayers' expense - largely to pay dividends, it appears.
We only know the decision, not the rationale for it which will be explained in the judgement to be handed down soon. Until then, we will reserve comment and the temptation to guess how we will react.
However, whatever it says will not stop us fighting for a properly run water company that is focused on delivering the service it is paid for, not the cash machine for shareholders approach set out in the independent report commissioned by the company itself. remember, this is what it said:
Extract is from this report already featured in a blog, but too big a comment to forget:
Post-privatization, Thames Water focused on shareholder returns and managed its operations in a way that delayed long-term infrastructure investment. The Company deferred necessary maintenance, which led to aging pipelines, higher leakages, and less efficient systems.
Cold comfort for the staff who have been battling to make it work, and evidence that the scandal is not their fault, it is down to the people taking the big bonuses at the top of the organisation - highly paid for being the 'exceptional talent'. (if there is an irony emoji, this is where it goes)
and
The Company has increasingly spent on emergency repairs, which are typically more expensive than scheduled maintenance leading to high operational costs.
We notice that in a Guardian article today, Thames Water's CEO said this:
“The company plan will not affect customer bills but will provide continued investment in our network to fix pipes, upgrade our sewage treatment works, and maintain high-quality drinking water."
WASP will ask for proof of this because customers' bills are the only source of water company funding and that has been the case ever since privatisation. Unless Thames Water is going to pay for the loan with the loan and pay for the legal and advisory fees and interest from a magic source of money, his statement appears to be lacking in credibility.
Add to that the fact that part of the the company's plan is to persuade the Competition and Markets Authority to raise our bills even higher and it looks even less true.
Maybe we will be proven wrong and Mr Weston will come up with credible evidence.
By Coincidence, tonight the first of two documentaries will air on BBC2 at 9PM and the second one will be tomorrow, Tuesday 18 March - WASP is in that one with fellow campaigners (we haven't seen it yet)
It is called "Inside the crisis"
Keep watching the blog - and if anyone is feeling disheartened at the result today - please don't!
We always have a plan B.
Another source of funding is selling assets and getting a contribution to infrastructure from developers.
a small amount I know in comparison to the need but its nice to get the detail right to stop a clever legal bod nailing us