Councillors vote on 20 October on asking ministers to take Southern Water into public ownership. Beach House bathing water has been rated Poor two years running.
Worthing Borough Council will be asked on 20 October to call for Southern Water to be taken into public ownership. A motion on the full council agenda also asks the company to publish year-round water testing at Worthing Beach House. That stretch of sea, beside Splashpoint, has been rated Poor by the Environment Agency in both seasons since it was designated.
The motion was tabled by Councillor Katie Thornton, of the Green and Independent Alliance, who represents Selden ward. It was published with the agenda for the meeting at 6.30pm on Tuesday 20 October in the Council Chamber at Worthing Town Hall. The meeting is open to the public.
What the motion asks for
If councillors back it, the council would:
- write to the Environment Secretary and the water minister, asking the government to use its powers to bring failing water companies, including Southern Water, into public ownership
- ask the government to give workers, customers and councils seats on water company boards, following publicly run utilities in Berlin, Paris and Stockholm
- write to Southern Water asking it to publish year-round bathing water testing data
- ask the company to fund local groups, including the Muscle Beach Swimming Club, to run their own citizen science testing
The full wording is in the motion paper. The council’s report on it says there are no direct financial effects, because the motion is declaratory.
Beach House: Poor in 2024 and 2025
Worthing Beach House became a designated bathing water in 2024. The Environment Agency’s classification record rates it Poor for both 2024 and 2025. Poor is the lowest of the four grades. The agency also flags it as a water whose quality is affected by heavy rain.
It stands out on this stretch of coast. These are the agency’s 2025 grades for the six bathing waters in Adur and Worthing:
| Bathing water | 2025 grade |
|---|---|
| Southwick | Excellent |
| Shoreham Beach | Excellent |
| Lancing, Beach Green | Good |
| Worthing (Heene Road) | Good |
| Goring Beach | Good |
| Worthing Beach House | Poor |
Two of Worthing’s waters improved in 2025: the main Worthing site and Goring Beach both rose from Sufficient to Good. Beach House did not move.
The councils’ own bathing water page says its quality “may be affected by surface water and urban drainage during and after heavy rainfall”. The sampling sign stands on the promenade behind Splashpoint Leisure Centre.
The grades rest on samples taken only in the bathing season, from 15 May to 30 September. That is the gap the motion is aimed at. It says the East Worthing storm overflow at Beach House released sewage for 448 hours in February 2026, and 593 hours counting what Southern Water calls “non-impacting” spills. The motion cites Southern Water’s own Rivers and Seas Watch map. That map is an interactive app we could not read directly, so we have not been able to check the February figures ourselves.
What Southern Water’s own report says
The motion leans on Southern Water’s 2025-26 annual report. We read it. It shows:
- net debt at 67% of the company’s regulatory capital value, down from 74% a year earlier and up from 69% two years ago
- regulatory capital value of £8,391.5m
- no dividends paid to outside shareholders since 2017-18, with £900m put in by shareholders and a further £300m committed
On storm overflows the report gives an average of 21.11 releases per overflow in 2025, against 36.91 in 2024 and a regulator’s target of 17.99. The company says more than 700 releases were prevented during the year under its £1.5 billion Clean Rivers and Seas Plan.
The motion’s wording that net debt was “reaching 67%” reads as though it had risen. The report shows the ratio fell over the year.
The other motion: remembrance
Councillors will also debate a second motion on remembrance, from Councillor Hilary Schan of Tarring ward, seconded by Councillor Debbie Woudman of Heene ward. Both are also Green and Independent Alliance members.
It asks the council to back the Royal British Legion’s guidance on “the right of people in Worthing to choose how they remember”. That includes wearing a red poppy, a different coloured poppy, both, or none “without judgement”. It also asks the council to welcome refugees and others affected by war to join the town’s remembrance. Worthing’s civic Remembrance Sunday falls on 8 November.
What it means for you
- If you swim at Beach House, the official grade is Poor and the Environment Agency samples only between May and September. The beaches at Heene Road and Goring were rated Good in 2025.
- If you want to be heard, the meeting is public. Contact Democratic Services on 01903 221073 to ask about attending.
- A motion is not a policy change. If it passes, the council writes letters. It has no power over who owns Southern Water.
We will report the result after the meeting.
Sources
- Worthing Council, 20 October 2026, agenda, Adur & Worthing Councils
- Motion on Notice (KT), item 11, and Motion on Notice (HS), item 10
- Worthing Beach House bathing water record and annual classifications, Environment Agency
- Bathing water quality: seawater, Adur & Worthing Councils
- Annual report and financial statements 2025-26, Southern Water
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