BBC News, Yorkshire
A group of Yorkshire Labour MPs have written to the chair of their region’s water company to demand answers over “disgraceful” payments made to its chief executive.
The MPs, which include Rother Valley’s Jake Richards and Bradford West MP Naz Shah, are addressing the £1.3m in previously undisclosed payments paid to Yorkshire Water boss Nicola Shaw.
The company has previously defended the payments, saying they were from the firm’s parent company Kelda Holdings, which is based offshore.
MPs have now written to the company’s chair Vanda Murray calling for full transparency over the payments.
Richards said: “At a time when constituents are facing a 41% increase in water bills, sewage is polluting our rivers, and pipes are bursting, the CEO is accepting payments that completely contradict her public statements.
“Nicola Shaw promised she would decline bonuses out of respect for public anger, while in private she accepts even more money.”
He said this was the reason why public confidence in water companies was at “rock bottom”.
Yorkshire Water, which announced a hosepipe ban for millions of users in July, was one of six firms banned from paying “unfair” bonuses to their executives this year.
A report in The Guardian said Ms Shaw had received £1.3m in previously undisclosed extra pay since 2023 from Yorkshire Water’s parent company, Kelda Holdings.
The company said this was for work including “investor engagement, financial oversight, and management of the Kelda Group”, and the money came from shareholders.
It said the payments were made in addition to her £660,000 salary, and came from Kelda Holdings, which is registered in Jersey.
In the letter to Ms Murray, the MPs said: “It is disgraceful that Ms Shaw has publicly refused bonuses and yet discreetly accepted large payments.”
The also pose a series of detailed questions, including why she was paid £1.3m in addition to her salary, why Yorkshire Water’s parent company is based offshore and if Ms Shaw’s payments were an indirect substitute for bonuses she had publicly declined?
MPs to sign the letter include:
- Abtisam Mohamed, Sheffield Central
- Clive Betts, Sheffield South East
- Richard Burgon, Leeds East
- Anna Dixon, Shipley
- Josh Fenton-Glynn, Calder Valley
- Gill Furniss, Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough
- Fabian Hamilton, Leeds North East
- Alison Hume, Scarborough and Whitby
- Jake Richards, Rother Valley
- Naz Shah, Bradford West
- Alex Sobel, Leeds Central and Headingley
- Marie Tidball, Penistone and Stocksbridge
Yorkshire Water has been fined several times recently for failures over wastewater and sewage, including in March when it had to pay £40m to the regulator Ofwat.
The company was ordered to pay more than £900,000 last month after polluting a watercourse with millions of litres of chlorinated water, causing the death of hundreds of fish.
And in May, the company was ordered to pay £350,000 after a watercourse in North Yorkshire was polluted with sewage.
The hosepipe ban was also introduced on 11 July after a period of very hot and dry weather across the country left reservoir stocks low.
Yorkshire Water said it had no additional comment to make regarding the letter.
However, the firm previously said regarding the payments to Ms Shaw from Kelda Holdings, that as part of her role she also does “some work for the benefit of Yorkshire Water’s parent company, Kelda Group”.
This work included “investor engagement, financial oversight, and management of the Kelda Group, which is recognised by a fee of £660k paid by shareholders”.
It said it did not believe work done on investor-related activities should be paid for by Yorkshire Water customers.
The company added that the fee “reflects the critical importance of the work during this period that was led by Nicola in securing long-term investment for Yorkshire Water”.
It said: “We are determined to make improvements to our performance so we can deliver our part in creating a thriving Yorkshire, doing right for our customers and the environment.”
