Yorkshire Wasser strikes back in the middle of criticism of the Green Party

The council members have expressed concerns about the company to introduce a hose pipe ban while “failing” to tackle LECKS, “massively migrated” customer bills and to complain about “huge sums” to its shareholders.

Yorkshire Water in Bradford defended his decision to introduce a hose pipe ban, claimed that the fight against LECKS in his networks was a “priority” and said that the increase in the invoice would “finance investments in the next five years”.

The company added that it had seen “a inflow of money from our shareholders” in the past five years. The company's December account said that the shareholders have received dividends of 522 million GBP since 2017.

City Councilor Matt Edwards, Chairman of the Green Party in the Bradford Council, said: “This Hosepipe ban is the consequence of Yorkhire Water's own failure to take care of the network.

“As a municipal council, I lost the number of the number of residents who have informed me that reported leaks and other problems for months, sometimes years.

“Well, so that they tell the people to restrict their water consumption while hiking massive bills and paid millions of dividends and bonuses.

“It shows exactly where their priorities are – and it is not with the communities they serve.”

Yorkshire Water's base on the Halifax Road, Bradford

CLLR Ros Brown, deputy chairman of the Green Party in the Bradford Council, said that Yorkshire Water “wants us to pay more to repair the chaos you created”.

She added: “Great Britain had just had one of the driest and warmest sources for over a century, and extreme weather is becoming the new normal.

“The current system does not work.

“We need a water system that is properly carried out in the resolving of your problems and plans for the future – not in one that rewards the shareholders and at the same time ignores his leaks.”

Statement from Yorkshire Water

A spokesman for the Yorkshire water said: “We understand that leaks are frustrating for our customers, and reducing leaks in our networks is a priority for us.

“Leckage is the lowest one ever in Yorkshire, and it is something we are working on all year round.

“We have reduced the leakage by 15 percent in the past five years and will spend £ 38 million in the next five years to further reduce this number.

“We also work on a 406 million pound scheme to replace more than 1,000 km of pipe ports in order to burst and become less likely.

“Since we were extremely dry weather during this time, we devoted more resources to reduce leaks to protect our resources.

“We recently recruited 100 extra culverables to help us find and fix leaks faster, and they have joined a team that is around the clock in all of Yorkshire.

“At the moment, they repair more than 400 leaks per week and prioritize those who lose most of the water.

“We know that the increase in the invoice is undesirable and for those you need, financial support systems are available, but the increases will finance investments in the next five years.

“The reduction of the leakage is only part of a investment program operated between 2025 and 2030 in the operation of Yorkshire Water in the amount of 8.3 billion GBP, which includes investments in future water resources.

“In the past five years, instead of getting money out of the company, we have seen a medium -sized current from our shareholders to Yorkshire Water because they have supported our investments in important projects.

“You are obliged to improve our performance and long -term goals.

“We did not make the decision to easily implement a hose pipe ban and do everything to avoid it. However, Yorkshire experienced the driest and warmest spring, which led to the region entering a drought in June.

“Spring is usually a time when our groundwater sources and reservoirs are still exceeded, but this has not been the case since 2025, and our reservoir shares have continued to fall since the last week of January.

“We are incredibly grateful to our customers who do what they can do to save water.

“On the first weekend with Hosespipe restrictions, the demand fell by 180 million liters compared to the earlier use in the Heatwaves at the end of June.”