Ex-Southern Water boss among four charged over alleged plan to manipulate water quality tests
BBC News 2026-07-22 13:27:57
Context: The former chief executive of Southern Water, Matthew Wright, and three others have been charged with conspiracy to defraud authorities over allegations of manipulating water quality tests to avoid millions of pounds in penalties. The charges relate to a plan to manipulate the "operator self-monitoring" regime, which tests the discharge from wastewater treatment works. The case will be heard at Medway Magistrates' Court on July 14.
Key Facts
- Matthew Wright, the former chief executive of Southern Water, has been charged with conspiracy to defraud the Environment Agency (EA) and water regulator Ofwat, alongside Philip Barker, Clive Massey, and Mark Gregory.
- The four men are accused of conspiring between 2012 and 2017 to defraud authorities by implementing "artificial no-flow events" at wastewater treatment works to avoid penalties.
- The EA alleges that the defendants contrived operational circumstances so that there was no flow through the relevant site at times when it was believed that the site would or might fail the operator self-monitoring test, in order to avoid the consequences of the true test result being provided to the agency and Ofwat.
- Southern Water has separately been charged with dozens of offences of failing to comply with or contravening an environmental permit condition between 2013 and 2017 at multiple wastewater treatment works.
- The EA claims that Southern Water avoided penalties of around £45m by manipulating the operator self-monitoring regime, with the actual figure potentially being higher.