Public ownership of England’s water companies could cost close to zero, says thinktank

Exclusive: Common Wealth report argues debt, pollution and underinvestment justify process known as special administration

Ministers could bring water companies into public ownership for minimal cost through a process designed to safeguard vital public services when the companies running them are failing, a thinktank report has argued.

According to the report by Common Wealth, ministers could use a process known as special administration to take over a company like Thames Water and, rather than transfer it to another private company, keep it under permanent public ownership.