Utilities should be run on not-for-profit basis

CIVIL Servants earn less in return for job security, a safe pension and honours. Business people earn (sometimes big) rewards in return for taking risks.

This is a fair rule of thumb but one which did not apply when the gas, electricity and water boards were privatised.

Those lucky civil servants in charge of the various boards were rewarded with knighthoods and other honours for leading the privatisation process.

Nor did it take long for them to realise their pay lagged behind that of business people leading similar size organisations so, under the guise of comparability, they awarded themselves large pay and benefits increases.

Given that, at the time, most of them were running monopoly businesses there was no risk to them whatever so their rewards were unjustified.

Today, water is still a risk-free monopoly business and the rewards being paid to executives of the water companies are equally unjustified.

Many people are calling for nationalisation, but this would only lead to a large bureaucracy with political decision-making by Westminster.

In many other countries water is owned and operated by the local authorities. In late Victorian times councils in the UK ran their own town gas and electricity plants.

A combination of a national strategic authority tasked with the building and maintenance of reservoirs, pipelines and canals to move water to where it is needed and distribution to homes and businesses managed by regional bodies responsible to local councils would be most effective.

These bodies would be not-forprofit organisations so ensuring cheaper and fairer water bills.

Richard Landolt

By email