The water trade watchdog is probing funds to the bosses of a string of suppliers following the revelation that Yorkshire Water’s offshore mum or dad firm had handed its chief government greater than £1m in beforehand undisclosed charges.
Sky Information has learnt that Ofwat, which is to be abolished by the federal government within the coming years, wrote to plenty of water firms earlier this month to scrutinise related remuneration preparations to these employed by Yorkshire Water and its holding firm, Kelda Holdings.
Business sources mentioned on Monday that among the greatest operators within the sector have been among the many recipients of Ofwat’s letter.
Disclosure of the regulator’s enquiries comes within the wake of a report in The Guardian which mentioned Nicola Shaw, the Yorkshire Water boss, had acquired funds of £660,00 from Jersey-registered Kelda in every of the final two monetary years.
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A supply near Ofwat insisted that its investigation of comparable pay preparations had been deliberate previous to the reporting of Ms Shaw’s remuneration.
“We’re at the moment reviewing water firms’ compliance with the performance-related pay prohibition rule.
“As a part of this evaluation, we’ve written to a number of firms to request extra info on the remuneration choices they’ve set out of their annual accounts.
“The place we discover proof that an organization has breached the rule, we’ve powers to direct firms to take remedial actions which, if not complied with, can lead to firms dealing with enforcement motion – together with monetary penalties.”
Water trade pay has turn into an more and more incendiary matter in current months amid a slew of fines levied in opposition to operators throughout Britain for his or her failure to forestall leaks and main air pollution incidents.
Sky Information revealed earlier this month that David Black, the Ofwat chief government, would step down following the publication of a government-commissioned overview calling for the physique to be scrapped.
