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08
Jul
Yorkshire Water branded a 'disgrace' after pollution increases and boss paid more than £1 million
Yorkshire Water has reported rising pollution incidents, missed environmental projects and payments of more than £1 million to its chief executive in its latest report.
The findings were published as part of the company's annual report and financial statements, which covers April 2025 to March 2026, and shows the firm is also set to be downgraded for its performance by the Environment Agency.
Chief executive Nicola Shaw described the last year as “challenging" and said there was a “a huge amount of work to do to get to where we want to be”.
According to the report, pollution incidents rose by 72% in the last 12 months — from a total of 151 in March 2025 to 260 in April 2026.
It also said that the company expects to be downgraded by the Environment Agency in October for its performance, which will see it drop from a two-star rating to one.
Of the UK's 12 main water and sewerage companies, only Thames Water currently has a one-star rating.
It's the start of a second part of a huge upgrade.
The agency rates water companies to hold them accountable for their environment performance, such as number of pollutions incidents and delivering projects.
Yorkshire Water said part of the reason for the downgrade was because it had failed to deliver five projects in west Leeds which were part of legally required environment schemes.
In response to the incidents, the company said in its report:
Our progress this year has not been as we had hoped, with more total pollution incidents than in the prior year, and the same number of serious incidents.
Yorkshire Water pays Ms Shaw £642,000 but her total remuneration package is £732,000.
She also received an additional £660,000 from Yorkshire Water’s parent company, Kelda Holdings Ltd, in 2026.
In its report, Yorkshire Water said the payment was made by shareholders in its parent company and was separate from its own performance-related pay.
‘A disgrace’
In a statement, Ms Shaw said Yorkshire Water released its annual report as part of its commitment to “being transparent about how we are performing”.
She added:
Over the financial year 2026, we served 5.5m individual customers every day, in 2.4m homes and 146,000 businesses whilst dealing with drought conditions for six months of the period, followed by the wettest three months since 1871, which has been challenging to say the least. We had some clear successes – showing our work is making a real difference – and ended the year with a more resilient water network, thanks to the rapid investment we completed.
At the same time, we delivered improved water quality, reductions in leakage and external sewer flooding, investment in new water supplies and an impressive water mains replacement programme. Nonetheless, there remains a huge amount of work to do to get to where we want to be.
However, David Skaith, Labour Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, said the report showed that it was a “disgrace” that the company carried the county’s name.
He said:
Yorkshire Water has let down Yorkshire’s residents, saddling the company with debt and leaving it with crumbling infrastructure, all while paying out to its shareholders.
This latest report is yet another reason to bring an end to the failures of privatisation. Yorkshire Water is a busted flush, and it’s a disgrace that it carries our county’s name.
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