Labour's plan to give water customers new powers to hold companies to account has been branded a "stitch-up" after it emerged that water firms themselves have been advising on how the scheme should work. The Consumer Council for Water (CCW) is setting up "Water Voice" panels allowing the public to question local water company executives and seek redress over issues such as sewage discharges and water shortages, but documents obtained under freedom of information laws show the CCW consulted an "industry advisory group" of water companies on how the panels should be run, prompting accusations that the firms being scrutinised are shaping their own oversight.

The campaigner Feargal Sharkey said the arrangement amounted to asking "the extorters what should be happening to the victims", warning the scheme could prove "inept and dysfunctional". The CCW, which received 80% more complaints in 2025-26 without a corresponding rise in resources, denied consulting firms on how they wished to be held accountable, saying it had only worked through practicalities such as ensuring chief executives had time to attend accountability sessions. The row comes as Prime Minister Andy Burnham faces pressure to bring Thames Water into public ownership amid the firm's financial troubles, and as ministers prepare a new water bill that would replace Ofwat with a tougher regulator modelled on post-financial crisis bank oversight.