The issue with privatisation is figuring out how to do it well

Letters to the editor: our readers share their views. Please send your letters to letters@independent.co.uk

The increasing approach of penalty and crackdown from the government, populist as it is, may try to incentivise companies to improve (PA Wire)

I read with interest your editorial on the pros and cons of privatising or renationalising the water companies, and I agree with you that the argument for renationalising is unconvincing.

Equally the increasing approach of penalty and crackdown from the government, populist as it is, may try to incentivise companies to improve. But it also removes the capacity and wherewithal for actually delivering.

I have long felt that our issue with privatisation (or outsourcing) was not doing it, but doing it well and managing it well. When you privatise a service like water or the trains, you can never privatise accountability; it is more an outsource contract than true privatisation. The contract may set out responsibility, but accountability remains with the part of government responsible for that service. Therefore, it is vital that key success criteria are in place.