The chair of South East Water has resigned following a damning parliamentary report that declared “no confidence” in the company’s leadership after widespread supply failures across Kent and Sussex.
Chris Train, the independent non-executive chair, departed the board with immediate effect, with Lisa Clement appointed as interim chair.
The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) Committee attributed the firm’s abysmal performance to leadership incompetence and a lack of accountability.
The report further criticised an inadequate governance framework that failed to hold senior staff responsible.
Company executives had previously faced intense questioning from MPs regarding their handling of numerous supply interruptions.
The outages, occurring between November and January, left thousands of customers without access to basic amenities like tap water, showers, or flushing toilets.
In a statement from South East Water announcing Mr Train’s resignation on Thursday, it said it was “mutually agreed that new independent Board leadership is now required to oversee a critical period of positive, transformative change for the company, its customers and local communities”.
It further apologised to customers hit by “operational failures”, resulting in a loss of public trust, and added that it “notes” the report by the Efra committee.
It said the company plans to double investment into its water supply network over the next five years.
In a report, published on Friday, the Efra committee said: “South East Water presents as a company devoid of proper leadership, riddled with cultural problems that raise serious concerns about the ability of the executive team, led by the CEO David Hinton, to bring the company back into compliance and deliver the services their customers deserve.
“Leadership teams play a major role in how company develops; change at this scale requires South East Water’s leadership to change.”
The report also called on SEW’s shareholders – Utilities Trust of Australia, NatWest Group Pension Fund, and Desjardins Group and associated holding companies – to hold the company to account.
The firm was fiercely criticised over multiple failings that led to the outages, as well as its response during the crisis.
These included poor maintenance of infrastructure, failing to monitor critical risks, failing to invest or build resilience and blaming external factors such as climate change and increased demand.
The company was also accused of a disorganised and slow response to restore supply, a lack of communication with customers and insufficient emergency supply through water tankers and bottled water, which left some vulnerable residents without.
Mr Hinton was grilled by the Efra committee in January, but MPs said they had concerns about the accuracy of his evidence and his lack of accountability.
They then recalled the chief executive alongside Mr Train to answer further questions at a hearing earlier this month.
In a contrite appearance, Mr Hinton admitted he “got it wrong” in his handling of the outages, and acknowledged some of the team’s failings.
But in its report, the committee said the leadership demonstrated a clear pattern of obfuscating responsibility and “groupthink”, arguing that this is preventing their ability to analyse problems and learn lessons.
Committee chair Alistair Carmichael said the group of MPs “feel obliged to highlight the gravity of this extraordinarily poor situation”.
“This is an exceptional failure of management and of corporate governance,” he said.
“One cannot overstate the dangers of so many communities losing water supply for extended periods, including schools, GP surgeries and care homes.
“Someone in this company needs to take a grip, be accountable for its failings and to put them right.”
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “People across the South East have been badly let down by South East Water’s total failure of leadership. It even left thousands of people stranded without water for two weeks.
“The CEO and board of South East Water are clearly not up to the job. They need to be shown the door now as a matter of public safety.”
A statement from South East Water’s interim independent non-executive chair, Ms Clement, said: “The Board thanks Chris for his service to South East Water.
“The Company’s focus remains on delivering engineering and operational changes that will strengthen the resilience of South East Water’s network and transform the Company for the benefit of customers and local communities.