South East Water CEO to step down after Kent and Sussex supply outages

The chief executive of South East Water has announced plans to step down, a week after the group’s chair quit in the wake of major supply outages in Kent and Sussex.The supplier said David Hinton, who joined the board in 2013, would stay in post to allow an “orderly transition” over the summer while the group hunts for his successor.“He feels his position has become an increasing distraction from South East Water’s most important priority, which is to deliver a resilient water supply for its customers,” the company said.Chris Train resigned as non-executive chair last week after a scathing report by MPs, who said they had “no confidence” in the company’s leadership.Bosses at South East Water were grilled twice by MPs on the environment, food and rural affairs (Efra) committee over their response to multiple supply interruptions across Kent and Sussex.Thousands of customers were left unable to access tap water, shower or flush their toilets during the outages between November and January.Calls had been mounting for Hinton to join the chairman in stepping down.The environment secretary, Emma Reynolds, said: “This must mark the beginning of positive change at South East Water, where customers’ needs are prioritised and there is a stop to supply outages.”Tunbridge Wells community group Dry Wells Action had pressed for the chief executive’s departure, and for the company to appoint consumers to its board as non-executive directors to ensure their voice is “no longer overlooked”.David Hinton at the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee in the House of Commons, London in January. Photograph: House of Commons/UK Parliament/PAEfra committee chair, Alistair Carmichael, also recently reiterated calls for the chief executive to go.Responding on Friday Carmichael said: “David Hinton has made the right decision for the long-term good of South East Water’s customers and the company. It is now up to its interim chair and board members to recruit a new chief executive and get them in place as soon as possible. As we have seen over the last eight years, this is a company that has never been far from serious failure, so competent leadership is urgently needed.“The Efra committee will be keeping South East Water within its sights,” he added.South East Water said Hinton confirmed there had been “no disagreement with the board relating to his resignation”.Lisa Clement, independent non-executive director and interim chair at South East Water, said: “On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Dave for his many years of loyal dedication and service to South East Water Limited.”The water firm’s board said last week on announcing Train’s resignation that it was “mutually agreed that new independent board leadership is now required to oversee a critical period of positive, transformative change for the company, its customers and local communities”.In a report, published last Friday, the Efra committee said the company was “devoid of proper leadership” and “riddled with cultural problems”.“Leadership teams play a major role in how company culture develops; culture change at this scale requires South East Water’s leadership to change,” it said.The firm was fiercely criticised over multiple failings that led to the outages, as well as its response during the crisis.These included poor maintenance of infrastructure, failing to monitor critical risks, failing to invest or build resilience and blaming external factors such as climate change and increased demand.The company was also accused of a disorganised and slow response to restore supply, a lack of communication with customers and insufficient emergency supply through water tankers and bottled water, which left some vulnerable residents without.Responding to the announcement, Liberal Democrat MP for Tunbridge Wells, Mike Martin, said: “Dave Hinton’s resignation was inevitable but he’s finally done the right thing.“South East Water urgently needs fresh leadership and fresh ideas to undo an entrenched internal culture of group think.”Hinton was grilled by the Efra committee in January, but MPs said they had concerns about the accuracy of his evidence and his lack of accountability.They then recalled the chief executive alongside Train to answer further questions at a hearing earlier this month.In a contrite appearance, Hinton admitted he “got it wrong” in his handling of the outages, and acknowledged some of the team’s failings.But in its report, the committee said the leadership demonstrated a clear pattern of obfuscating responsibility and “groupthink”, arguing that this was preventing their ability to analyse problems and learn lessons.