In proposing the motion as set out in the Agenda, Councillor Lloyd Bowen said something as basic and non-negotiable as water could no longer be taken for granted and he referred to the recent separate incidents in Kent when thousands of homes had been left without water, some for several weeks.  Drawing attention to an incident in January 2026 which caused disruption to many residents, including those in Swale, he said incidents were becoming more regular and some of the failures were foreseeable and preventable. Councillor Bowen said Ofwat had fined water companies millions of pounds, and had cited poor maintenance, weak planning and a slow, disorganised response, which impacted thousands of customers. Reflecting on the evidence, he said families had been left unable to bathe children, care settings struggled to maintain basic hygiene, there had been disruption to schools and a reliance on bottled water.

Councillor Bowen said providing clean water was not a luxury but a fundamental public service and the failure by the water companies to deliver was unacceptable. He said SBC needed to formally state its dissatisfaction with the performance of South East Water and Southern Water because apologies were not enough and residents deserved accountability, transparency, and confidence that disruption to water would not continue.  Councillor Bowen said explanations on what went wrong, why the contingency plans were insufficient and what the resilience will be going forward were needed. He said where standards were not met there should be consequences and senior executives from the water authorities should be held publicly to account to explain the failures and how they intend to supply current and future residents in new developments planned for Swale by 2042.

Finally, Councillor Bowen said the motion sought to send a clear message to water authorities that enough was enough, while also making it clear to residents that access to a fundamental service – being able to turn on a tap and expect clean, reliable water – should no longer be a matter of uncertainty.

In seconding the motion, Councillor Julien Speed reserved his right to speak.

Members were invited to debate the motion and made points including:

·         It was an important issue for everyone;

·         the outages were increasing;

·         it was a long term issue that could be traced back to privatisation and water companies had prioritised their shareholders above investment into infrastructure;

·         there was a lack of investment and planning in reservoirs;

·         water companies needed to be taken back into public ownership;

·         regular update meetings between the Chief Executive and Chief Executives of the water companies were previously agreed and should be resurrected if they had stopped;

·         regular liaison meetings with senior officers and representatives from the water companies would build up good relationships and should be encouraged;

·         the Environment Agency should also be held accountable;

·         water companies should be statutory consultees on planning applications;

·         the business plans of water companies needed to include significant infrastructure upgrades to accommodate new development;

·         there was a resource impact on SBC’s officers, exampled by a recent disruption out of hours;

·         there was a lack of communication between water companies, particular when, as in some wards in Swale, both companies shared responsibility;

·         there were also freshwater problems as highlighted by the tankers currently at the local sewage treatment works caused by over capacity;

·         it was important to highlight the issues of wastewater also and suggested an amendment to include this;

·         there were continuing issues with water levels at reservoirs;

·         spoke about the Surfers Against Sewage phone app which provided live data of sewage discharge;

·         referring to the blue flag scheme, said the Council should re-consider being part of the scheme with the number of incidents of sewage discharge;

·         despite new guidelines and legislation, water companies were not complying;

·         it was outrageous that management at the water companies were able to claim bonuses despite dumping raw sewage off coasts or into waterways;

·         referred to the significant increases in water bills from both companies whilst continuing to pay shareholders;

·         the water companies must take accountability;

·         gave an example of an incident of the impact on residents when water supply was diverted from one reservoir to another area;

·         spoke about the impact that hotter summers in the UK might have on water supply and questioned any contingency by the water companies to prepare;

·         there had been a decrease in water quality;

·         a new reservoir in Kent was necessary;

·         water companies should be liaising with health authorities to understand the disproportionate impact of water outages on communities who were most impacted, for example, those residents on home dialysis, supressed immunity, or who could not lift large bottles of water provided at a time of water disruption;

·         spoke about the impact on the fire service;

·         SBC held some responsibility as decision maker to development and should consider refusing more planning applications due to lack of infrastructure; and

·         highlighted the poor quality of the water at Milton Creek caused by the spillage from the sewage farm.

Councillor Wooster proposed an amendment to the second bullet point at (4) Consideration of enforcement action where standards have not been met to add “including issues around water quality”. This was seconded by Councillor Bonney and the proposer and seconder of the motion accepted the amendment.

The seconder of the motion, Councillor Speed, said housing targets in Kent were unachievable because of the pressure on the water supply and water companies had started to acknowledge that demand would be higher than planned for in their water resources management plans.  He said Southern Water were recently fined £22million for water outages across Kent between 2020 and 2023 and highlighted an incident in Dargate in July 2025 which left residents without water for eight days and another in January 2026 that impacted many areas including villages around Sittingbourne. After the water companies had admitted significant supply issues for new development in other parts of Kent, Councillor Speed questioned what the situation might be for Swale?  He said the level of communication from the water companies with SBC’s planning officers was not good enough.

Councillor Speed said public confidence in the water utilities was at an all time low and their top executives needed to be held to account.

Councillor Speed proposed an amendment to (1) to formally state the Council’s dissatisfaction with the performance of South East Water and Southern Water in relation to water supply provision and wastewater treatment within Swale Borough.

In accepting the amendment, Councillor Bowen, the proposer of the motion thanked Members for their support and respectful debate of the motion. He gave an example of proposed new development in his own ward that the water authority had advised they did not have the infrastructure to provide water to. Councillor Bowen referred to the need for an efficient water supply in the ever increasing rising temperatures in the summer months.

Resolved:

This Council notes that:

(1)  Residents and businesses across Swale Borough have experienced repeated, prolonged and, in some cases, severe failures in water supply in recent years.

(2)  The scale, frequency and duration of these incidents go beyond isolated or exceptional events and point to systemic shortcomings.

(3)  Across areas of Kent including within Swale, residents, including vulnerable individuals, families, schools, and care settings, have been placed in unacceptable situations as a result of these failures.

This Council believes that:

(1)  Reliable access to clean water is a fundamental public service and persistent service failures is unacceptable.

(2)  Without decisive intervention and investment, there is a real risk of continued disruption and further erosion of public trust.

This Council resolves to:

(1)   Formally state its dissatisfaction with the performance of South East Water and Southern Water in relation to water supply provision and wastewater treatment within Swale Borough.  

(2)   Write to the Chief Executives and Boards of South East Water and Southern Water to:

·         Demand a comprehensive written account of the causes of recent failures.

·         Require a clear explanation of why existing contingency and resilience plans were insufficient.

·         Seek firm, time-bound commitments to infrastructure investment, operational improvement and enhanced customer communication.

(3)   Request South East Water and Southern Water to attend a public

meeting or relevant Council committee, at senior executive level to:

·         Account publicly for recent service failures.

·         Respond to questions from Councillors.

·         Set out how confidence will be restored and future failures prevented.

·         Explain how they plan to supply the 17,875 new dwellings that form the Swale Local Plan housing needs target to 2042.

(4)  Escalate the Council’s concerns to Ofwat, the Environment Agency, and the Drinking Water Inspectorate, requesting:

·         Formal scrutiny of South East Water’s and Southern Water’s performance in Swale.

·         Consideration of enforcement action where standards have not been met including issues around water quality.

(5)  Request that Council officers assess whether further representations should be made jointly with other affected Kent authorities to strengthen the call for regulatory intervention.

(6) Commit to keeping residents informed of outcomes arising from

this motion and to continue to press for tangible improvements until a reliable and resilient water supply is demonstrably achieved.