Why is the future of failing Thames Water a big secret?

IT'S been another tumultuous year for Thames Water, and the saga shows no sign of ending. Month after month, debts mount, performance declines, and pollution worsens. Behind the headlines lies one question the Government refuses to answer: when will it act?

- Dr Samir Seddougui

IN THE PIPELINE: Thames Water is feared to be near collapse with debts of 17bn

I've spent months searching for evidence as part of our legal challenge against the Government for failing to produce a policy on when it will trigger a special administration regime for failing water companies like Thames Water.

Somewhere in that paper trail, I kept seeing “Project Timber". But I could find only the briefest of information about what it was. The deeper I dug, the more curious the silence became.

Very little information exists publicly about Project Timber. Whispers in Westminster suggest it is the previous government's contingency plan for what to do if or when Thames Water collapses. First mentioned in Parliament in March 2024, Richmond Park MP Sarah Olney described it as "a contingency plan should Thames Water be unable to operate". Eighteen months later, it remains under lock and key.

WHY the secrecy? What is this Government trying to hide? When we at River Action filed official requests under Freedom of Information, Defra replied it could "neither confirm nor deny" Project Timber's existence, claiming disclosure might threaten national security and international relations. National security, really?