Eastbourne MP to meet with new South East Water CEO to discuss 'ongoing challenges'

Eastbourne MP Josh Babarinde is scheduled to meet with South East Water's new CEO, John Halsall, to confront the utility provider over severe infrastructure failures affecting local residents.

The meeting will address a highly disruptive period for the town, which has faced five major water outages and three consecutive summers of water restrictions since Babarinde was elected in July 2024. 

Key Discussion Points

The MP intends to press the newly appointed CEO on specific issues: 

• Severe Leaks: South East Water reportedly loses roughly 104 million litres of water every single day through leaks.
• Lack of Resilience: Repeated infrastructure failures have forced school closures, heavily disrupted local businesses, and cut off household supplies.
• Hosepipe Bans: Scrutiny remains high as residents continue to navigate a temporary use hosepipe ban enforced since late July. 

Broader Political Pressure

The meeting follows a period of intense institutional shakeups and political outrage regarding the company's performance:

• Leadership Changes: Former CEO David Hinton resigned in May after MPs condemned the firm as "riddled with cultural problems". John Halsall officially assumed the role in July to lead a company-wide transformation. 
• Wider Accountabilities: Other regional politicians, including Mid Sussex MP Alison Bennett, have already met with Halsall to complain about poor incident updates, late bottled water deployments, and structural supply failures. 

Josh Babarinde has invited Eastbourne residents to submit direct questions for the CEO via his official email at josh.babarinde.mp@parliament.uk