Mayors and other local leaders could be given powers to oversee water firms

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A sewage treatment works next to the River Thames in Slough. The pumping of sewage into rivers and seas has become a major scandal in Britain. Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters View image in fullscreen A sewage treatment works next to the River Thames in Slough. The pumping of sewage into rivers and seas has become a major scandal in Britain. Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters Water industry Mayors and other local leaders could be given powers to oversee water firms Move would mean some input on companies’ spending and holding bosses to account over bills and sewage discharges

Prefer the Guardian on Google Mayors and other local politicians could be given powers to oversee water companies under plans being considered by the UK government to bring utilities under greater public control.

Local leaders would have the power to direct some parts of water companies’ spending and hold bosses to account over bills and sewage discharges as part of the proposals.

It comes as Andy Burnham faces growing pressure to improve the oversight of the water industry, with millions of households facing steep bill increases , leaking infrastructure and sewage spills .

Giving local political leaders more authority over the sector was a key recommendation in Sir Jon Cunliffe’s landmark review of water companies last year.