Getty ImagesThe boss of Water UK has apologised for the industry’s performance as the sector faces its biggest review since privatisation.
Public anger at water companies has grown increasingly louder over rising bills, repeated sewage spills and a lack of investment.
The government has launched a new Independent Water Commission chaired by former deputy Bank of England governor Sir Jon Cunliffe to fix the sector – which could lead to the regulator Ofwat being scrapped.
David Henderson, chief executive of the group that represents the sector, told the BBC that not only had he apologised but there is a “plan” “to end water sewage flowing into all waterways”.
Environment Secretary Steve Reed said he had launched the “root and branch” probe to fix the UK’s polluted and “failing” water system.
Almost all options will be considered during the review, including reforming or getting rid of Ofwat, which has been criticised for its track record in regulating the industry in England and Wales.
“There are certainly very severe failures of regulation and governance that underpin the problems that we’re seeing in the water sector,” said Reed.
The government has ruled out nationalisation of the sector, which was privatised in the 1980s, as too costly and slow.
Instead, the private sector will have to provide the investment needed to upgrade pipes, sewers and reservoirs to do deal the UK’s rising population and climate change.
But in order to attract private capital into the sector, it is likely that customers will face higher bills.
Henderson said he welcomed the review: “It’s clear the system is not working. The system is very complicated, it’s very expensive and it’s far too slow.”
He said he was sorry, adding that the industry was “failing to keep up with the public’s expectations, particularly around sewage”.
Ofwat also supported the new commission.
“We are ready to back record investment, the challenge for water companies is to match that investment with the changes in company culture and performance that are essential to rebuilding the trust of customers and the public,” Ofwat chief executive David Black said.
Rising bills
Reed said: “One of the things I want to prevent happening ever again is the size of the bill increases that Ofwat has been talking about.”
But the BBC understands that Ofwat is already preparing to allow water companies to raise bills by more than originally agreed.
In July, Ofwat provisionally said bills would rise by an average of £19 per year between 2025 and 2030 – totalling a £94 increase, or a 21% rise, over that five year period.
It is unclear by how much more bills will rise instead, but the watchdog will make its final decision at the end of the year.
While the entire sector is facing challenges, the increases previously proposed by Ofwat in July varied greatly from company to company.
The highest agreed rise of 44%, was for Southern Water, and the lowest was a bump of 6% for Affinity Water.
In July ,Thames Water, the UK’s largest water company, was given the go-ahead to lift bills by 23%. It has since said it needs to raise bills by 59%, in order to keep operating as normal.
Thames Water shareholders refused to inject promised funds into the company earlier this year as they said it would be impossible to make any profit at proposed bill levels.
One of the reasons that Ofwat is considering permitting bigger bill increases is to reflect higher financing costs, the BBC understands.
Customers have been furious at the scale of spills and pollution while investors have claimed the bills they have been allowed to charge are insufficient to attract the investment needed to fix the problems.
The independent commission will seek to address these competing demands by taking input from a panel made up of customers, environmental bodies, investors and engineers whose interests are not always aligned.
There will be no staff from water companies on the panel.
Reed said the commission’s findings would “help shape new legislation to reform the water sector so it properly serves the interests of customers and the environment”.
Some companies have been caught in what one executive described as a “doom loop” – with underperforming companies fined for sewage discharge and leaks leaving them with even less money to fix the very problems they have been fined for.
Investors have also been condemned for the dividends and executive pay they have paid out while pollution and leaks have risen.
In short, no-one is happy with the current set up. Campaigners welcomed a new commission.
River Action said it should “deliver a fully funded national action plan to end pollution for profit, enforce laws, and reform regulators”.
However, Matthew Topham at We Own It said the “root cause” of the problem was privatisation and described the strategy as the “re-privatisation” of the water industry.
