Reform councillors on the Isle of Wight have responded to online criticism following their decision to vote against a petition calling on the Isle of Wight Council to declare no confidence in Southern Water at Wednesday’s Full Council meeting.
Speaking over the weekend, a Reform Isle of Wight spokesperson said:
“The reason we voted against the Southern Water petition was because it did not go far enough. We firmly believe that the time for more talking and broken promises is over and that voting for the petition of no confidence on Southern Water would have only led to a continuation of that process.”
Article continues below this advertisement “We were advised by the monitoring officer that by accepting this petition we could not have the following motions heard or voted on especially the joint motion of Jonathan Bacon and Les Kirkby of Reform.”
“Councillor Les Kirkby on behalf of the Isle of Wight Council will now immediately put in a failure of standards to Ofwat and the other governing bodies to ensure they take immediate action to put an end to the completely unacceptable release of sewage into our coastal waters and rivers.”
Councillor Les Kirkby said:
“No more waiting for meetings about meetings with Southern Water and photo opportunities for councillors. The residents and businesses of the Island have had enough of endless promises and new ten-year plans only to be let down time and time again. By writing to Ofwat detailing Southern Water’s failure to provide a service that falls within acceptable standards for residents we can demand action through the correct channels.”
“The petition clearly showed the level of public anger and was a great achievement, but we have to stand up for the 140,000 plus people of the Isle of Wight – East, West, North and South.”
Article continues below this advertisement “All councillors were asked to make a joint motion as there were five in total including the petition and that this would enable all the council to work together hold Southern Water to account, however this was declined by Councillor Cameron who decided to go her own way rather than work cross-party as in our view this is a non-political matter.”
“We believe this was a missed chance of uniting the council and all the residents of the Isle of Wight to tackle the endemic issues that Southern Water have and show that we can work together as one council to deliver for residents.”
Council leader Jonathan Bacon also criticised the wording of the original no confidence motion, describing it as “too weak” and arguing it failed to call for sufficiently specific action.
He said:
“We risk undermining our ability to deal with these issues and deal with them in a strong way.”
The original no confidence motion was defeated by 17 votes to 15, with 6 councillors abstaining.
Councillors instead approved a joint motion put forward by Jonathan Bacon and Reform councillor Les Kirkby. The agreed proposal commits the Isle of Wight Council to writing to Ofwat, the Environment Agency and the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to express serious concerns over Southern Water’s environmental performance and request a review of whether expected regulatory and service standards are being met.
It also commits the council to gathering evidence from residents, businesses, the tourism industry, public health agencies and other stakeholders on the frequency, location and impact of sewage discharges across the Isle of Wight.
Reform added:
“Now that our joint motion has passed, we will be going forward to take on Southern Water and taking the necessary action. If other councillors want to stop us, then the residents of our Island can see clearly who is for the residents and who is out to promote their own political agendas.”
A Southern Water spokesperson has said:
“Our chief executive met with Isle of Wight councillors last month and set out a series of commitments focused on reducing spills, strengthening engagement, improving communication and increasing transparency. This will be helped by more than £67m of investment across the Island.
“Over the last three years the number of storm overflows on the Isle of Wight have gone down and we will shortly announce further measures to continue our progress and improve the resilience of our network.”
Rather than voting for a motion of no confidence Reform Isle of Wight are going to write an angry letter about failed Southern Water. Perhaps in their limited world they have missed the public outcry about rising water bills, hosepipe bans and polluted rivers and beaches. Or perhaps their establishment ideological stance on privatising public services took president over looking after their communities.
Quite right.
Becca’s diary of her first year from May 2025 to now reads:
“Sewage and water quality
I have continued to raise concerns about sewage discharges, tanker activity, warning systems and the impact on Colwell Bay, Totland Bay, the Western Yar and protected habitats”.
It appears as though she has been really busy on her own, but achieved diddly squat.
La plus ca change!
Nothing will come of it, Southern Water CEO
will keep his head above the water.
Look at the Post Office scandal, what became of that!
Politicians, CEO’s etc never faced the music.
And thanks to the Reform Party Southern Water has got away with it again. Thank Reform for nothing…. And with you lot In charge Southern Water planning permission will sail through for the new treatment plant and the IOW will be drinking sewage water very soon.
Did the Reform councillors come to this decision as a group of fellow Island residents or were they following party instructions. If it was the latter then they have no place in local government. We do not need councillors who are frightened/threatened by a party whip but councillors who represent the wishes of their fellow Island residents. If national party politics is allowed to override local common sense then we are moving backwards not forward.
Everything they do is as a group. I was there watching the voting. Been at two meetings now. Everytime Reform vote, they vote same way. They are not representing their residents, they are representing their party and are under control of the party group.