Water boss quits in shame after leaving prospects with dry faucets for months

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) Committee said incompetence and lack of accountability have driven poor performance for South East Water

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The inept boss of a water firm which left thousands of customers with dry taps for months has quit in disgrace. Chris Train, the chair of South East Water has resigned after a report by MPs said they have “no confidence” in the company’s leadership following major supply outages in Kent and Sussex.

It comes as the parliamentary Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) Committee said the leadership’s incompetence and lack of accountability have driven its poor performance, while its inadequate governance framework has failed to hold senior employees responsible.

Thousands of customers were left unable to access tap water, shower or flush their toilets during the outages between November and January.

Bosses were grilled twice by the MPs over their response to multiple supply interruptions across Kent and Sussex.

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 culture develops; culture change at this scale requires South East Water’s leadership to change.”

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.

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.”