CAMPAIGNERS have welcomed Oxford City Council’s unanimous vote in favour of calling for Thames Water to be taken into public ownership following a motion to end water privatisation.

The motion, proposed by Green Party councillors Chris Jarvis and Lois Muddiman, will also see the council writing to the firm to request that its chief executive officer Sarah Bentley attend a meeting with them.

Since water was privatised in England in 1989, over £72 billion has been paid in dividends to privateer shareholders, while infrastructure has deteriorated. 

According to the GMB union’s research, Thames Water lets 635 million litres of water leak out of its system every day, equivalent to leaving a hosepipe on for 73 years.

And water firms have come under increasing scrutiny over sewage released into rivers and seas.

Mr Jarvis said: “For 34 years, people across England have been suffering the devastating impacts of private ownership of our water system.

“It has long been clear that water privatisation is a failed experiment. It’s now becoming clearer that it is a legalised scam which exists solely to benefit shareholders, to the detriment of both people and the planet.”

We Own It director Cat Hobbs said the campaign group is delighted by the decision.

She said: “Privatisation has failed, and Thames Water is our daily reminder. Our water bills should be going towards urgently fixing infrastructure and cleaning up our rivers, not flowing out to shareholders.

“Public ownership of water is normal elsewhere and it works, like in Scotland or France.

“Instead of just complaining about leaks in our streets and sewage in our rivers, councillors are taking a stand: it’s time to take back Thames Water.”