Failing utilities – is special administration the solution?

What is to be done about the UK’s failing utilities? The current back-stop is special administration, opening up the possibility of wider restructuring. In all cases it is the structure that needs to change if there is to be a stable investment framework for the next couple of decades. In the case of Thames Water, if the special administer is called in, the assets could be taken over in the short term and passed on to other owners. The trouble is that the current owners are mostly foreign, and the UK is very dependent on foreign investors as it is a net dis-saver. Such dependence creates a big problem: we are beholden to the kindness of strangers to invest in all our utilities, but these investors have many alternative options to place their money. Special administration would nevertheless provide a great opportunity to break Thames up, both geographically and by service. It need not lead to any increase in government spending other than very short-term guarantees on the debt. There could be a London Water and a Greater Thames Water, divided between sewerage and water supplies, all listed. Separating out sewerage could help to deal with the large CAPEX required through a ring-fenced ten-year improvement programme, with bespoke regulation and longer-term funding and finance arrangements. A structural approach might also work for Network Rail, with greater integration, bringing the train operators and rolling stock companies back into the frame. For Royal Mail, there is a fundamental structural issue relating to service provision – put letters back into the Post Office as a public service, separated from the parcels delivery service. Introducing stability and a longer-term approach could at least create a more solid and investable infrastructure, which may then address the challenge of how to make these utilities more attractive to outside investment. Fudging Thames, Network Rail and Royal Mail now will give us another decade of failures and crises, which in turn will turn out worse for foreign investors.