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Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
'Broken' water industry set to be overhauled - nine key recommendations from landmark report
The system for regulating water companies in England and Wales should be overhauled and replaced with one single body, a major review of the sector has advised. It has recommended abolishing regulator Ofwat as well as the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI), which ensures that public water supplies are safe. The report, which includes 88 recommendations, suggests a new single integrated regulator to replace existing water watchdogs, mandatory water metering, and a social tariff for vulnerable customers. The ability to block companies being taken over and the creation of eight new regional water authorities with another for all of Wales to deliver local priorities, has also been suggested. The review, the largest into the water industry since privatisation in the 1980s, was undertaken by Sir Jon Cunliffe, a career civil servant who oversaw the biggest clean-up of Britain's banking system in the wake of the financial crash. He was coaxed out of retirement by Environment Secretary Steve Reed to lead the Independent Water Commission. Here are nine key recommendations: • Single integrated water regulators - a single water regulator in England and a single water regulator in Wales. In England, this would replace Ofwat, the Drinking Water Inspectorate and water-environment related functions from the Environment Agency and Natural England • Eight new regional water system planning authorities in England and one national authority in Wales • Greater consumer protection - this includes upgrading the consumer body Consumer Council for Water into an Ombudsman for Water to give stronger protection to customers and a clearer route to resolving complaints • Stronger environmental regulation, including compulsory water meters • Tighter oversight of water company ownership and governance, including new powers for the regulator to block changes in water company ownership • Public health reforms - this aims to better manage public health risks in water, recognising the many people who swim, surf and enjoy other water-based activities • Fundamental reset of economic regulation - including changes to ensure companies are investing in and maintaining assets • Clear strategic direction - a new long-term National Water Strategy should be published by both the UK and Welsh governments with a "minimum horizon of 25 years" • Infrastructure and asset health reforms - including new requirements for companies to map and assess their assets and new resilience standards In a speech responding to Sir Jon's report, Mr Reed is set to describe the water industry as "broken" and welcome the commission's recommendations to ensure "the failures of the past can never happen again". Final recommendations of the commission have been published on Monday morning to clean up the sector and improve public confidence. Major other suggested steps for the government include greater consumer protection by upgrading the Consumer Council for Water into an ombudsman with advocacy duties being transferred to Citizens Advice. Stronger and updated regulations have been proposed by Sir Jon, including compulsory water metering, changes to wholesale tariffs for industrial users and greater water reuse and rainwater harvesting schemes. A social tariff is also recommended. Oversight of companies via the ability to block changes in ownership of water businesses and the addition of "public benefit" clauses in water company licences. To boost company financial resilience, as the UK's biggest provider Thames Water struggles to remain in private ownership, the commission has recommended minimum financial requirements, like banks are subject to. It's hoped this will, in turn, make companies more appealing to potential investors. The public health element of water has been recognised, and senior public health representation has been recommended for regional water planning authorities, as have new laws to address pollutants like forever chemicals and microplastics. A "supervisory" approach has been recommended to intervene before things like pollution occur, rather than penalising the businesses after the event. A long-term, 25-year national water strategy should be published by the UK and Welsh governments, with ministerial priorities given to water firms every five years. Companies should also be required to map and assess their assets and resilience This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version. You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
Sky News
2 days ago
- Business
- Sky News
'Broken' water industry set to be overhauled - nine key recommendations from landmark report
The system for regulating water companies in England and Wales should be overhauled and replaced with one single body, a major review of the sector has advised. It has recommended abolishing regulator Ofwat as well as the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI), which ensures that public water supplies are safe. The report, which includes 88 recommendations, suggests a new single integrated regulator to replace existing water watchdogs, mandatory water metering, and a social tariff for vulnerable customers. The ability to block companies being taken over and the creation of eight new regional water authorities with another for all of Wales to deliver local priorities, has also been suggested. The review, the largest into the water industry since privatisation in the 1980s, was undertaken by Sir Jon Cunliffe, a career civil servant who oversaw the biggest clean-up of Britain's banking system in the wake of the financial crash. He was coaxed out of retirement by Environment Secretary Steve Reed to lead the Independent Water Commission. • Single integrated water regulators - a single water regulator in England and a single water regulator in Wales. In England, this would replace Ofwat, the Drinking Water Inspectorate and water-environment related functions from the Environment Agency and Natural England • Eight new regional water system planning authorities in England and one national authority in Wales • Greater consumer protection - this includes upgrading the consumer body Consumer Council for Water into an Ombudsman for Water to give stronger protection to customers and a clearer route to resolving complaints • Stronger environmental regulation, including compulsory water meters • Tighter oversight of water company ownership and governance, including new powers for the regulator to block changes in water company ownership • Public health reforms - this aims to better manage public health risks in water, recognising the many people who swim, surf and enjoy other water-based activities • Fundamental reset of economic regulation - including changes to ensure companies are investing in and maintaining assets • Clear strategic direction - a new long-term National Water Strategy should be published by both the UK and Welsh governments with a "minimum horizon of 25 years" • Infrastructure and asset health reforms - including new requirements for companies to map and assess their assets and new resilience standards In a speech responding to Sir Jon's report, Mr Reed is set to describe the water industry as "broken" and welcome the commission's recommendations to ensure "the failures of the past can never happen again". Final recommendations of the commission have been published on Monday morning to clean up the sector and improve public confidence. Major other suggested steps for the government include greater consumer protection by upgrading the Consumer Council for Water into an ombudsman with advocacy duties being transferred to Citizens Advice. Stronger and updated regulations have been proposed by Sir Jon, including compulsory water metering, changes to wholesale tariffs for industrial users and greater water reuse and rainwater harvesting schemes. A social tariff is also recommended. Oversight of companies via the ability to block changes in ownership of water businesses and the addition of "public benefit" clauses in water company licences. To boost company financial resilience, as the UK's biggest provider Thames Water struggles to remain in private ownership, the commission has recommended minimum financial requirements, like banks are subject to. It's hoped this will, in turn, make companies more appealing to potential investors. The public health element of water has been recognised, and senior public health representation has been recommended for regional water planning authorities, as have new laws to address pollutants like forever chemicals and microplastics. A "supervisory" approach has been recommended to intervene before things like pollution occur, rather than penalising the businesses after the event. A long-term, 25-year national water strategy should be published by the UK and Welsh governments, with ministerial priorities given to water firms every five years. Companies should also be required to map and assess their assets and resilience Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Middle class families could be hit with soaring water bills under Labour's new plan to subside the costs for Britain's poorest households
Middle class families could be hit with soaring water bills under Labour plans to lower the costs for Britain's poorest households. Ministers are being urged to approve a new nationwide scheme that would subsidise bills for low income families. The proposed national social tariff is due to be presented to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in a review of the water industry on Monday. However, there are fears that middle class families could end up bearing the brunt of the charges and see their water bills increase. Shadow housing secretary Kevin Hollinrake told The Telegraph: 'Family homes across middle England face soaring water bills under the Labour Government, thanks to the triple whammy of above-inflation hikes, higher tariffs on multi-person households, and robbing Peter to pay Paul to fund tariffs for those on welfare benefits.' 'We can't just keep increasing taxes and charges – record taxes are already making life too hard for people,' he added. 'The Government should be standing up for the makers, not the takers.' There is currently no nationwide scheme to help poorer customers - with a patchwork of subsidy programmes in place across different suppliers. Consumer groups have suggested that a national social tariff could unify the level of support received and help an extra two million people get money off their bills. However, such a scheme was rejected by the previous Conservative government due to concerns about the impact it would have on wealthier households. On Monday, a landmark review of the water industry led by Sir John Cunliffe is due to be published. He announced his interim findings last month, when he revealed he would bring forward proposals to 'strengthen' the system of social tariffs. Sir John wrote: 'The commission is looking at how to more effectively support customers who are struggling to pay their bills. 'This includes looking at options to strengthen social tariffs and to tailor water bills to better reflect household consumption.' Currently, water firms can only raise money from their own areas and consult their customers on how much they would be willing to pay. However, more and more households are being placed on social tariffs as they struggle to keep up with the soaring costs of living. Statistics from water regulator Ofwat show that across Britain one in ten customers are now receiving support with their bills. But the data varies wildly per region with South West Water having the lowest number of customers on social tariffs. Meanwhile, United Utilities, which covers the North West of England, has the highest at 15 per cent. It comes after it was revealed that household water bills would rise by an average of £123 from April 1, equating to an increase of around £10 a month. The rise, confirmed by industry body Water UK, will take the average water and wastewater bill from £480 to £603 for the next year alone. Water firms are facing huge problems with their drains, reservoirs and sewers, leading to vast amounts of pollution spilling into rivers and waterways. That means firms are needing to spend billions on upgrading their systems. Because they are privatised, they also want to turn a profit so they can keep getting more investment from shareholders. To make matters worse, many face huge debt piles. The 10 biggest water companies have about £60 billion of combined debt. Regulator Ofwat has 'failed' and 'run up the white flag' by announcing rises in household water bills, the chairman of an environmental campaign group said. Charles Watson, from River Action, said: 'The shareholders in these companies are just laughing all the way to the bank.'
