15 Feb 2018

A few weeks ago there was an exchange of letters between Michael Gove and the chairman of Ofwat. In his short letter Michael Gove highlighted a number of points he found unacceptable in the privatised water industry. A new report from the Social Market Foundation think-tank assessing the likely costs associated with nationalising the water and sewerage […]

01 Feb 2018

‘Ofwat has clarified the PR19 requirements for leakage. The regulator has confirmed that its approach to leakage performance commitments will take account of companies that might want to start their improvements ahead of the 2020-25 price control period. It has also explained that the approach to the threshold for enhanced outperformance payments is different for […]

03 Jan 2018

Ofwat: ‘We have published our final methodology for the 2019 price review (PR19) for the water and wastewater monopoly service providers in England and Wales. The methodology sets out: our expectations and requirements for companies preparing their business plans to meet the needs of their customers from 2020 to 2025 and beyond; how these expectations form […]

29 Nov 2017

Speaking at the Water 2017 event, Ofwat’s outgoing chief executive, Cathryn Ross said the water sector and other utilities are “ripe for a revolution”. She predicts a “radical shake-up” in how customers will buy utilities and home services. Ross suggested in the coming years customers would no longer have multiple providers for services such as […]

29 Nov 2017

Reported in Water Briefing, Ofwat says that a crackdown on leakage could save enough water for five cities. The regulator has urged water companies to go “much further” to cut down on leakage and has challenged the industry to save up to 170 billion litres of water a year by targeting leaks. Addressing the issue […]

18 Oct 2017

Cathryn Ross speaking notes – Moody’s 2017 UK Water Sector Conference, 17 October 2017 Ofwat: ‘Good morning everyone. It’s great to be here. And thanks to Neil and the team at Moody’s for inviting me. When I agreed to talk at this conference I said I’d talk about the challenges and opportunities for companies through […]

26 Sep 2017

Resilience, one of the four themes of Ofwat’s 2019 price review, took centre stage at recent event in London, with senior figures from across the water sector gathering to discuss what ‘resilience in the round’ should look like in practice and how water companies can learn from the past experiences and best practices of other […]

19 Sep 2017

Following a recent consultation, Defra has published its Strategic Policy Statement to Ofwat. Full details are available here, but some of the key points are: No substantive changes from the draft statement – the wording of some points / objectives has moved away from “Ofwat should work with” to be more challenging for both the […]