{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/9475d117-fcd4-4915-a6f3-923941e7aa0d/67644301621cdde43ae63aab?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Thames Water customers brace for 35% bills surge after Ofwat ruling","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/61ba05fc1a8cbed4343cf0e6/1734623883258-a339925b-1960-4c46-a3c8-4c35a92938fa.jpeg?height=200","description":"<p><a href=\"https://www.standard.co.uk/business/thames-water-ofwat-bills-debt-pollution-sewage-b1200875.html\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Thames Water bills</a> will rise by more than a third to an average of £588 over the next five years despite its dismal record on pollution and leaks.</p><p>Water regulator Ofwat said the UK’s biggest water company, which supplies London and was recently fined £18 million for breaking share dividends rules, will be allowed to hike its bills by an inflation-busting £152, or 35 per cent - that’s an average £31 a year.</p><p>The charges are being hiked to fund a £104 billion spending plan, with other water companies in England and Wales following suit increasing customer bills.</p><p>The Standard podcast is joined by Matthew Topham, lead campaigner at We Own It, a pressure group for public ownership.</p><p>In part two, patients with sleep apnoea are receiving a choice of two nerve stimulators from<a href=\"https://www.standard.co.uk/news/science/sleep-apnoea-london-northamptonshire-east-sussex-olivia-b1199776.html\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"> University College London Hospitals</a> to combat the condition, and it’s the first UK healthcare provider to offer both therapies without needing bulky equipment.</p><p>We’re joined by Mr Ryan Chin Taw Cheong, consultant ENT and sleep surgeon at UCLH’s Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals.</p>","author_name":"The Evening Standard"}