FAT-CAT water bosses and shareholders will continue to pocket billions of pounds of customers’ money despite a measly price cut forced on them today by regulator Ofwat.

Water bills issued by 14 out of the 17 providers in England and Wales are set to fall by an average of £50 between 2020 and 2025, environment secretary Michael Gove announced.

Three firms — Severn Trent, South West Water and United Utilities — have already seen their price plans for the next five years approved.

General union GMB described the reduction as “rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic.”

GMB national officer Stuart Fegan added: “What water customers really want to know is how will water companies improve their awful performance — particularly around pollution incidents and leakage.

“Water is a precious resource. If the UK is going to meet climate change commitments and make sure water is affordable, we must scrap the privatised water racket which has been in place for the last 30 years and take it back water into public hands.”

Labour’s shadow water minister Luke Pollard said the party in government would bring water back into public ownership and upgrade the infrastructure.

“Over the last decade water companies have made billions in profits. But they’ve still put bills up and they allow far too much water to leak from pipes every day,” he said.

“The next Labour government will cut customer bills and invest more in climate change mitigation and flood prevention.”

Ofwat has also ordered the water companies to invest an extra £6 million a day for the next five years in their leaking supply networks, an indication of the level of neglect of the industry’s infrastructure since privatisation.

Other new targets set following the Ofwat review include cutting pollution incidents by more than a third, reducing supply interruptions by almost two-thirds, helping 1.5 million customers who are struggling to pay their water bills, and reducing leaks.

Water bills have soared by 40 per cent more than inflation since the industry was privatised by the Tories in 1989.

At the same time millions of litres of treated water leak from pipes, up to one-third of supplies in the case of some companies.

Since privatisation environmental performance has worsened dramatically, with increasing numbers of pollution incidents through the discharging of untreated sewage into waterways in England and Wales.