More than one point three million pounds in payments to the CEO of Yorkshire Water were not declared in official company pay reports. Now the regulator is investigating whether the money breaks strict rules on bonuses after repeated sewage failures.
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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