Thames Water to decide on controversial £2m payouts to bosses

Directors of Thames Water volition conscionable wrong days to determine whether to proceed with much than £2m of retention payments to elder executives amid fierce scrutiny from MPs.

Sky News has learnt that the crisis-hit h2o utility's remuneration committee volition clasp talks adjacent week aft taking ineligible proposal connected whether to property up with the 2nd instalment of a multimillion lb payout to 21 of its astir elder managers.

In total, the latest payouts equate to £2.46m, the aforesaid arsenic a erstwhile tranche of wealth handed retired earlier this year.

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A Whitehall root said connected Tuesday that Sir Adrian Montague, Thames Water's chairman, had written to Alistair Carmichael, seat of the environment, nutrient and agrarian affairs prime committee to pass him of the remuneration committee's deliberations.

Mr Carmichael wrote to Sir Adrian past week demanding to cognize by 1 December whether the wealth would beryllium handed out.

Chris Weston, Thames Water's main executive, is already the taxable of a bonus 'ban' imposed by the regulator, Ofwat, nether caller rules preventing payouts astatine h2o companies which are failing to conscionable environmental, fiscal resilience oregon user standards.

Mr Weston is not a subordinate of the retention outgo scheme.

The arguable retention payments astatine Thames Water are owed to beryllium decided connected with the institution remaining successful the grip of a endurance battle.

Its largest radical of creditors stay locked successful talks with Ofwat, different regulators and the authorities astir the presumption of a prospective woody that would constitute disconnected billions of pounds of the company's debt.

They would besides inject billions of pounds successful caller equity, successful instrumentality for an accommodation successful Ofwat's attack to aboriginal fiscal penalties.

Thames Water declined to comment.