Four former employees from Southern Water, including the former Chief Executive Officer Matthew Wright, face a charge of conspiracy to defraud

Four former Southern Water employees, including the company’s former chief executive Matthew Wright, are facing a charge of conspiracy to defraud over the alleged manipulation of wastewater treatment testing.

The Administrative Court has handed down a significant judgment confirming the Environment Agency has the power to prosecute former employees of the water company.

It is alleged that between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2017 the individuals conspired to defraud the Environment Agency and Ofwat by the implementation of artificial no-flow events at waste water treatment works operated by Southern Water to manipulate the Operator Self-Monitoring (OSM) compliance testing regime. 

The case will now proceed before Medway Magistrates’ Court.

Conspiracy to defraud is a common law offence which carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison.

Operator Self-Monitoring was introduced across the water industry in 2009 and requires companies to take samples at their wastewater treatment works before reporting the results to the Environment Agency.

Strict rules govern the way samples are collected to protect the independence and accuracy of the results.

It is an offence if there is evidence that water flows or data have been deliberately manipulated to avoid compliance checks.

Southern Water will separately face charges of breaching environmental permits in connection with the same alleged conduct.

Three further individuals will also face charges relating to alleged failures to comply with environmental permits.

An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “We can confirm that we are taking criminal proceedings against Southern Water Services Limited and a number of former employees.

“We take our responsibility to protect the environment very seriously and will always pursue and prosecute those alleged to have committed serious offending against the environment. We welcome this important judgment.”

Chichester MP Jess Brown-Fuller says “This will not come as a shock for many people in Chichester, who are used to being let down by a water company that pollutes our waterways and endangers public health.

The previous Southern Water administration should pay a steep price for their mismanagement and the new leadership have a long way to go before public confidence is restored.”

“The current model of water ownership is continuing to fail customers. That is why water companies need to be turned into public benefit companies now.”

A Southern Water spokesman said: "We're aware of today’s judgement permitting prosecution by the Environment Agency of former employees. The individuals named are no longer with the company. The charges relate to a historic set of failures between 2012 and 2017. These were uncovered through an internal company investigation in 2017. As soon as they were identified, Southern Water reported them to regulators, including the Environment Agency.

“As previously announced, the company is separately facing charges of breaching environmental permits. This follows an earlier Ofwat investigation into the same issue, which resulted in a customer rebate and penalties being imposed in 2019. We apologised in full at that time and repeat that apology again today.

“Southern Water is a completely different company now than it was a decade ago. Under new leadership and backed by new shareholders, we’ve radically addressed our culture, governance and operations.  We’re serious about further change and improvement, and are investing in our largest ever programme to protect the environment.”

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