South East Water chief tells MPs he ‘got it wrong’ in handling of Kent and Sussex water outages – follow live

Can the committee punish South East Water?published at 10:52 BST

10:52 BST

Helen Catt
Political editor, South East

The committee doesn’t have any powers over companies so it can’t fine South East Water, force it to sack its chief executive or make it take any specific action.

As a formal part of the parliamentary system, though, the committee’s words carry weight.

Criticism in its reports, or by public statements from its chair, can put pressure on a company or the government.

It’s also the convention that a witness tells the truth to Parliament, so that means MPs can try to get answers that might not otherwise be publicly available.

It’s worth remembering that this wider inquiry is into the water industry as a whole, and the committee has spoken to several other companies as part of it, although South East Water is likely to be singled out for attention because of the problems it’s had.