Northern Ireland Water - Privatisation

Privatisation

Northern Ireland Water and Scottish Water are the only United Kingdom water companies not to have been privatised.

The announcement of the establishment of a state-owned company was made by Minister of State John Spellar in August 2004 to much public criticism. The main reason for this is the proposed introduction of water charges for domestic consumers. A widespread public campaign to stop the introduction of the charges ensued, with the organisers claiming that Northern Ireland's water services are already being paid for through the rates system. The government countered with the assertion that Northern Ireland pays less per person in rates than people in England, Scotland and Wales do for their combined council tax and water charges, and that the extra investment is also needed to upgrade Northern Ireland's water infrastructure, particularly its mainly Victorian-era sewers.

The changes resulted in the loss of civil servant status for Water Service employees and a number of job losses. The agency's debt recovery function was outsourced in October 2006 to the Echo Managed Services company.