Rachel Millward says Greens would nationalise water companies as government plans wider public control

Green Party co-deputy leader Rachel Millward said on 1 October that her party would nationalise water companies in England and Wales, calling the water system an ‘absolutely unmitigated disaster’. Speaking to the BBC ahead of the party’s conference in Brighton, she said Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s newly announced plans for greater public control did not go far enough.

Millward attributed the state of the system to what she called decades of ‘radical underinvestment’. She described the government’s plans as ‘vague’. The difference between the proposals is substantial: the Greens are calling for public ownership of water companies, while the government has announced a way to take larger stakes in English companies and says it will consider possible future interventions.

What the government’s water ownership plan would change

In a 29 September announcement, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said a strengthened Water Bill would remove existing limits on government share ownership in major water and sewerage companies in England. Those limits vary by company, from 1% to below 3%, according to the department. Removing them would expand the government’s options for acquiring shares; the announcement does not itself transfer companies into public ownership.

The government says lifting the cap would allow it to consider a range of future interventions, including different ownership models, and provide support where needed. It also says securing the sector’s long-term future still relies on private investment. No particular share purchase, ownership model or timetable for taking a stake in a company is set out in the announcement.

The government’s announced ownership-cap change applies in England. Millward’s stated nationalisation proposal covers England and Wales. That difference matters when comparing the two positions: the government has described a proposed change to what it may own in English water companies, while Millward is arguing for a change in who owns water companies across both nations.

What the nationalisation cost estimates cover

The Green Party has long called for public ownership of water companies, according to the BBC. Its 2024 manifesto put the cost of nationalising water companies together with the five biggest retail energy firms at £30bn over five years of a parliament. That was a combined water-and-energy estimate, rather than a current price for buying water companies alone.

The BBC also reports that the government estimated last year that nationalising the water industry would cost approximately £100bn. The BBC’s account does not set out the assumptions behind that figure. Because the government estimate concerns the water industry and the older Green figure includes energy firms as well, the two numbers do not provide a like-for-like comparison of the same proposal.

Millward is expected to address the Greens’ latest nationalisation policy and how it would be paid for at the party conference in Brighton this weekend, the BBC reports. That speech had not taken place when her interview was reported. Details of any new financing proposal therefore remain open, and neither the earlier manifesto figure nor the government’s estimate establishes what the latest Green plan would cost.

Why the argument matters now

The ownership debate comes as the government considers nationalising Thames Water, which the BBC says faces a severe financial crisis. The government’s new proposal would remove a legal limit on its ability to hold shares in major English water companies. It presents that flexibility as a means of responding where companies let down customers and the environment, while continuing to seek private investment.

For the Greens, Millward’s criticism draws a line between stronger oversight or a possible government stake and taking water companies into public ownership. She told the BBC that Labour’s language had shifted towards her party’s position under Burnham, but said the Greens would keep pressing for nationalisation. Her remarks establish the party’s demand; they do not mean the government has agreed to it.

The next concrete details are due from both sides: the government has promised a broader water-sector approach in its 10-year plan, and Millward is expected to explain the Greens’ policy and payment proposal at the Brighton conference. Until those details are published, the available announcements show the direction of each proposal, but leave their eventual form, financing and effects unresolved.