West Oxfordshire District Council is calling on the Government to place Thames Water into special administration and subsequently move it to charitable ownership.
This appeal follows a council ballot on March 25, when members highlighted Thames Water’s persistent failure to manage sewage discharges, pointing to raw wastewater being dumped into nearby rivers and a burst water main that left many householders without running water.
Following the council vote, the council leader will send a letter to the Prime Minister urging Thames Water be placed into special administration and that the company stop paying dividends or bonuses to shareholders and executives.
Andy Graham, leader of West Oxfordshire District Council, said the council had made clear that Thames Water was not meeting its duties and was failing local communities and the natural environment.
He said the council’s view was that the only answer was to place Thames Water into special administration to ensure residents’ payments went towards vital improvements to water and sewage infrastructure.
The council would also lobby the government to step in and stop private investors and senior managers profiting while the company continued to perform poorly for its customers.
The dangers associated with untreated sewage, which may contain harmful pathogens including E.coli and Hepatitis A, featured heavily in the council’s discussions.
A Channel 4 documentary called Dirty Business recently highlighted the impact of sewage pollution in West Oxfordshire.
Lidia Arciszewska, executive member for environment, said the council had already been working hard to tackle the issue of untreated sewage discharges.
She noted that many of the 20 sewage processing plants in West Oxfordshire frequently operate above their design capacity, with over 27,000 hours of unprocessed sewage released from Thames Water storm overflow pipes in 2024.
Additionally, several sewage treatment works discharge effluent illegally during periods of dry weather.
Residents also face sewage spillages across the district, affecting properties, gardens, agricultural land and public spaces.
The council has been holding discussions with Thames Water to address infrastructure shortcomings, pushing for urgent investment, and working alongside national regulators to achieve better supervision.
The authority has also introduced ‘Grampian’ planning conditions, which prevent new homes from being inhabited until sewage upgrades have been completed and are functioning.
Hugo Ashton, executive member for planning, said the council had made clear that new housing must be accompanied by the infrastructure required to support it.
This approach protected both new and existing residents as well as the natural environment.
The aim was sustainable growth in West Oxfordshire, but this must not lead to increased sewage overflows or additional strain on a system already under pressure.
The council also holds an annual Waterways Fair to bring together residents, experts and campaigners, and provides advice for dealing with planning applications in areas with inadequate sewage infrastructure.
A Thames Water spokesperson said the company was committed to working with all stakeholders to develop a comprehensive commercial solution that benefited customers, the environment, taxpayers and the UK economy because a Special Administration Regime did not solve Thames Water’s challenges.
Special Administration would hold back improvements for customers and the environment. It would cause disruption, bring risk and uncertainty, increase costs, hinder operational recovery and did not address the financial situation. Furthermore, Special Administration did not change the regulatory duties on the business, and any exit from Special Administration would require a regulatory framework that supported investment.
The company took its responsibilities to customers and the environment very seriously. Thames Water’s Event Duration Monitoring data for 2025 published on Thursday, March 26 showed discharge events were roughly three times lower compared to the previous year with shorter spill durations. The company was hopeful that early progress from its operational and capital investment was starting to show.
The infrastructure needed significant investment to deliver the commitment to reduce discharge frequency and duration. This was why the company was carrying out the biggest upgrade to its wastewater network in 150 years over the next five years, including greater treatment capacity, reduced storm releases and new nutrient reduction schemes.
The company met with West Oxfordshire District Council and Councillor Arciszewska in February to discuss upgrades and investment and remained proactive.