00:00Nicola Shaw, the chief executive of Yorkshire Water, received more than £1.3 million over two years from the company's parent firm, Kelder Holdings, which is registered offshore in Jersey.
00:13The payments were not included in Yorkshire Water's official pay disclosures, and only came to light after journalists asked how much MPs and customers were really able to scrutinise.
00:22Now, the regulator Ofwap says it's assessing whether those payments comply with new rules introduced to curb bonuses at companies linked to serious environmental failings, particularly repeated sewage overflows.
00:35Yorkshire Water is one of six firms banned from awarding bonuses to senior executives, but these payments from Kelder were described as fixed fees rather than performance-related rewards.
00:47That technical difference could determine whether the money is deemed in breach of the rules.
00:52The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs says any attempt to sidestep the ban is completely unacceptable, and that Ofwap is looking into the issue urgently.
01:01Campaigners argue it undermines trust.
01:04Ilkie Clean River Group, based in the town where Nicola Shaw had previously turned down a public bonus,
01:10says these offshore payments appear to quietly restore her total package to what it would have been before the ban.
01:16Yorkshire Water has also faced criticism after household bills were allowed to rise by 41%, taking the average to more than £600 a year.
01:27But the company insists it has followed all the rules.
01:30In a statement, Yorkshire Water said the additional payments were made by shareholders, not from customer bills, and reflected separate work carried out on behalf of the Kelder Group.
01:39It also said it had fully complied with Ofwap's pay and disclosure requirements.
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