Former Chief Executive of Ofwat, Cathryn Ross, faced intense questioning from MPs regarding her role in the financial difficulties faced by Thames Water, as she declined to apologise for the industry’s £65 billion debt burden.
The grilling in front of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee at the House of Commons focused on the fact that the price review allowed former owner Macquarie to escalate Thames Water’s debts from £3 billion to £10 billion before subsequently selling the company.
When pressed by Labour MP Darren Jones about her role, Ross refused to apologise for her actions during her tenure at Ofwat.
She emphasised that decisions made by the regulatory body were aligned with their statutory obligations at the time and were taken seriously.
Ross said: “We were exercising our functions in pursuit of our statutory duties. Whether every decision we made was perfect with the benefit of hindsight, possibly not, but that is exactly what we were trying to do.”
When Darren Jones directly asked Thames Water’s Joint interim Chief Executive Officer for an apology, Cathryn Ross said: “I will not apologise for my role as chief executive of Ofwat.”
