South East Water could have licence revoked amid fears water supply issues could take days to resolve
South East Water licence to be reviewed after supply ‘shambles’
- South East Water (SEW) is under investigation by industry watchdog Ofwat, facing potential licence revocation as thousands of properties in Kent and Sussex remain without drinking water for a sixth day.
- Ofwat's probe will determine if SEW breached its licence conditions by failing to meet customer service obligations amid growing calls for chief executive David Hinton to resign.
- The current widespread outage, which has led to school closures and mixed information for residents, is blamed by SEW on burst pipes and power cuts caused by Storm Goretti.
- This incident follows previous sustained water supply failures in November and December, which left approximately 24,000 properties in the region without drinkable water for nearly two weeks.
- MPs have expressed deep scepticism regarding SEW's explanations, with the Parliamentary Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee recalling Mr Hinton and the company chairman for further scrutiny.