Yorkshire Water: Chief Executive earned credit during grilling by MPs - but there's work to be done
From the Minster to the Moors, its tea to its puddings, Yorkshire is as proud a county as ever there was, its constituent parts adding up to a hallmark of quality that is recognised and admired around the world. Which is why the spectacle of Yorkshire Water’s chief executive Nicola Shaw being hauled over the coals via videolink by MPs, repeatedly quizzed about unacceptable failures and accused of taking the company over which she presides ‘in the wrong direction’ feels all the more ignominious.
Yorkshire Water ought to elicit thoughts of crystal clear glasses – half-full! – of something that sets the bar for the industry – for its environmental conscientiousness as well as the quality of the drinking and bathing waters for which it is responsible.
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Hide AdYet, Ms Shaw does deserve credit, not least for agreeing to meet the group of cross-party MPs despite battling to recover from the effects of shingles, the hearing heard. More pertinent to that, she will have done herself and her organisation no harm in the humility she showed when questions arose about transparency and accountability.
When pressed on how she would describe the myriad failings of Yorkshire Water, the embattled chief executive could not have been more transparent nor accountable, agreeing with the members that its recent performance was not good enough and taking responsibility for doing better. Deeds must now reveal the sincerity of those words.
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