YESTERDAY (11 July 2024) the new Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed met with water company chief executives to set out that water companies will be answerable for their performance, for customers and the environment.
The meeting followed the water sector regulator Ofwat’s draft response to water company spending and its announcement that water bills in England and Wales are to rise by 21%, or £19 per year on average until 2030, in order to pay for improvements.
Water company price rise requests to support investment plans have been limited by a third by the regulator.
This sees the proposed bill increase reduced for customers, but also sees proposed investment in improvements at £88bn rather than £100bn.
On the the day of the announcement from Ofwat, Mr Reed said:
Today’s water bill rises are the result of years of failure.
The new Government will force water companies to tackle illegal sewage dumping into our rivers, lakes and seas. Firm action should have been taken much earlier to ensure money was spent on fixing the sewage system, not syphoned off for bonuses and dividends.
The decisive steps set out today mean this will never be allowed to happen again.
After meetings with water bosses this afternoon, they have now signed up to my initial package of reforms as we work towards cleaning up our water, prioritising the interests of water customers and the environment, and fixing our broken sewage system.
The Government plans include a request for Ofwat to ringfence funding for infrastructure improvement for the environment and preventing it being spent on bonuses or dividends; the formation of customer panels to hold water company bosses to account; the requirement for water companies to make customer and environment interests their primary objectives, including updating their Articles of Association; and strengthening protection and compensation for households and businesses when their basic water services are affected.
These plans sit alongside the Government’s manifesto commitments to put failing water companies under tough special measures to clean up our waterways.
Our CEO Dr Laurence Couldrick said:
It will take time to remedy the situation the water sector is in but we are pleased to see action on tighter regulation, ringfenced funding and the involvement of customers in robust discussion with their providers.
Bringing diverse sectors together will be vital to reimagine our use of water, including sectors such as farming and highways.
Our charity has been working collaboratively for 30 years and is ready to play our part in restoring and protecting the region’s freshwater habitats, ensuring nature-first solutions are instrumental in remediation efforts.
Read more on this story at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-announces-first-steps-to-reform-water-sector
https://theriverstrust.org/about-us/news/water-bill-rises-defra-water-company-announcements