South East Water chair resigns after report into supply issues that left thousands without drinking water

The chair of South East Water (SEW) has resigned following a damning report into major supply issues that left tens of thousands of homes without drinking water.

Independent non-executive chair Chris Train stepped down on Friday after the report described the firm's leadership as an "unaccountable clique".

SEW said new leadership was needed to "oversee a critical period of positive, transformative change for the company".

It comes as a cross-party group of MPs say they have no confidence in SEW bosses following a series of major supply outages.

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee said SEW's chief executive David Hinton and board had failed to address "multiple and ongoing failures".

Some 24,000 customers in Kent and East Sussex faced supply disruption in November and December - and weeks later up to 30,000 households faced days of water chaos.

Calls have also been made for Hinton, who was awarded a £115,000 bonus last year on top of his £400,000 salary, to quit.

Lisa Clement, interim SEW independent non-executive chair, said: "The company's focus remains on delivering engineering and operational changes that will strengthen the resilience of SEW's network and transform the company for the benefit of customers and local communities."

Train joined SEW in 2022, announcing at the time he and the company were planning to "further improve customer satisfaction levels".

He has more than 38 years' experience in the energy, utilities, regulation and infrastructure sectors, according to the government.

In a highly critical report published on Friday, MPs accused SEW of poor leadership, weak governance and a culture where nobody was held accountable.

Sources close to the environment secretary told the BBC: "The Secretary of State is looking at all options for turning this company and the wider industry around, including the possibility of calling in shareholders to understand their position on the ongoing issues at the company."

The committee said it had taken the "unusual but necessary step" of declaring no confidence in the company's top brass because of the seriousness of the failures.

The report said that while select committees do not normally focus on the leadership of individual private companies, MPs felt compelled to act because SEW appeared "shielded from the consequences of its incompetence".

Responding to the report, SEW said it plans to double investment into the water supply network serving Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, and Berkshire over the next five years.

"The board and executive team reiterate their unreserved apology to those customers impacted by recent operational failures, and the resulting loss of public trust in the company and its services," it added.