Thames Water Outage: Redbridge Asks Firm to Face Scrutiny

Redbridge councillors have agreed to invite Thames Water to a public meeting to answer for the burst mains that cut off water to thousands of homes in Woodford in August.

The decision came at Full Council on Thursday night, 24 September. The Leader of the Council, Cllr Kam Rai, confirmed it in his weekly update on Friday. He wrote that Thames Water “will have to explain why their response [fell] short and assure us that they are working to avoid a repeat”.

What the council agreed

The motion was moved by Cllr Judith Garfield and seconded by Cllr Jamal Uddin. Its full wording is in the agenda for the meeting. It resolves to:

• thank the volunteers, council staff, Vision Redbridge Culture and Leisure staff and partner organisations who supported residents during the outage
• ask the Leader to follow up his letters to Thames Water with a request for a meeting on how it will prevent a repeat
• recommend that the chair of the External Scrutiny Committee invites Thames Water representatives to a future meeting, to answer questions about the incident, how it was handled and “the distress caused to residents”

This is an invitation, not a summons. The motion does not give a date.

The committee’s next scheduled meeting is Monday 30 November at 7pm, followed by 1 February 2027.

What the motion says went wrong

The motion puts on the council’s record several claims about Thames Water’s handling of the outage:

• Over 17,000 Redbridge residents “experienced significant disruption” after multiple water main bursts in the north and west of the borough.
• At the start of the outage, the council offered to help Thames Water distribute water to vulnerable residents. “This offer was initially rejected.”
• Thames Water’s response “fell short of the standard of service, communication and support that residents have a right to expect”.
• The council stepped in with bottled water distribution, door-to-door deliveries and free showers.

Cllr Rai’s update adds that the outage came “during an extreme heatwave”, and that residents, volunteers and the council ended up supplying vulnerable people with water.

These are the council’s words. We have not found a public response from Thames Water to the motion.

The council’s own count has moved. On 11 August it said more than 15,000 homes had no water, low pressure or an intermittent supply at the peak. The motion’s figure of 17,000 counts residents rather than homes.

The outage, briefly

Two mains failed in South Woodford, on Chigwell Road and Daisy Road, and the council dates the incident to Sunday 9 August. Homes in Woodford, South Woodford, Clayhall and Hainault were affected. By 13 August, 2,700 households were still without water, and council staff were delivering bottled water door to door.

Our August article on compensation sets out what Thames Water owes affected households under the Guaranteed Standards Scheme and when to chase it.

Also decided on Thursday night

Cllr Rai’s update records three other outcomes from the same meeting:

• Broadmead Road Bridge. Councillors “from different political parties came together to support our bid” to the Department for Transport’s Structures Fund. The motion described a £100m replacement with a £20m council contribution, built between 2027/28 and 2029/30 if the money is agreed. The bridge has been shut since July 2023. The Leader said he hopes “for a positive decision soon”.
• Wanstead High School and the pool. After the petition debate, Cllr Rai said he has “already taken the formal decision to progress the appointment of a contractor to complete the school block”. He called finishing the project his “number 1 priority”. Our report before the debate has the funding background.
• Pension fund. The council reaffirmed its responsible investment policy, including that fund managers weigh human rights abuses, and said it would consider reducing or ending investments where engagement fails.

The minutes, with the formal wording of each decision and the votes, have not yet been published.

What it means for you

• If you were affected in August and have not had your compensation, see our compensation guide. The Leader said on 14 August that Thames Water had committed to crediting it automatically “within a month”.
• If you want to see Thames Water questioned, check the committee’s meeting page nearer 30 November for the agenda. We will report it if Thames Water attends.
• If you drive through Woodford, Broadmead Road is still closed. Our roadworks and travel page has the latest.