Anglian Water chief lands £1.3m pay despite two-star pollution rating

theguardian.com:

The boss of a water company with one of the worst pollution records in England has been handed more than £1m in pay and bonuses.

Anglian Water chief executive Peter Simpson faces criticism after he landed a “substantial” £337,651 bonus as part of a £1.3m pay package.

The reward comes despite English water firms overseeing such shocking levels of pollution that the Environment Agency has said water company bosses should be jailed for serious offences.

Anglian Water recorded nearly a quarter of all serious pollution incidents in 2021, according to the agency. It had the third-highest rate of total pollution incidents per 10,000 square kilometres with 34, behind Southern Water with 94 and South West Water with 87.

Anglian was given two stars out of five in the EA’s performance rating, meaning it requires significant improvement.

Anglian Water Services’ annual report now shows Simpson and chief financial officer Steve Buck saw their maximum bonuses cut by 45% after missing customer delivery targets, which included goals on pollution and flooding. Simpson saw 5% of his 2019 bonus clawed back too.

Simpson’s base salary rose to £531,365 in 2021/22, up from £505,277 a year earlier. Buck received a £919,253 pay package including a £228,243 bonus.

Rival utility company Thames Water is also facing heat for handing its chief executive, Sarah Bentley, £727,000 worth of bonuses despite its own poor performance on pollution.

The bulk of Bentley’s bonus will be distributed as part of a £3.1m “golden handshake” sign-on payment that is reportedly to be distributed to her within days of the EA report’s release. The agency also gave Thames Water a two-star rating.

Natalie Ceeney, chair of Anglian’s remuneration committee and an experienced former