People urged to share views on how to clean up water and rebuild trust
There is ongoing public anger over the degraded and polluted state of the country’s rivers, lakes and coasts and soaring water bills.
The water industry’s problems are not the “inevitable consequence” of privatisation, the chairman of a commission set up to examine reforms of the sector has said.
The Government-appointed Independent Water Commission is launching its call for evidence on Thursday, asking the public, environmental groups, investors and others their views on reform of the troubled sector.
They are being urged to share their views on how to secure the “significant” prize of cleaner waters, growth, and a stable, well-funded water sector for future generations.
The launch comes amid ongoing public anger over the degraded and polluted state of the country’s rivers, lakes and coasts, soaring water bills and privatised water companies’ dividends, debt and executive bonuses.
The commission is looking for views on the strategic management of water, the regulatory system, including economic, environmental and drinking water regulation, water company ownership models, and improving the resilience of assets from pipes to reservoirs, as well as supply chains.
Former deputy governor of the Bank of England Sir Jon Cunliffe, who is chairing the commission, said its initial work since it was announced in October 2024 has highlighted a range of serious and often interlocking concerns.
“Ambitious changes will be needed to address these concerns and rebuild the trust in the system that has broken down on all sides – customers, environmental groups, investors and companies.
“The problems we see today have not emerged overnight. Nor, do I believe, are they the inevitable consequence of a privatise regulated company model,” he said.
“Rather, they have developed over time and due to factors including poor decisions and poor performance by companies, regulatory gaps, policy instability and a history of ad-hoc changes that have left an increasingly complex system that is no longer working well for anyone,” he added.
“Our task is to stand back from the current system and explore, with an open mind, potential changes.”
He added: “We should not forget that the prize here is significant – cleaner waters, growth and a stable, well-funded sector that can deliver essential, world-class services for future generations.”
Environment Secretary Steve Reed said: “Our waterways are polluted and our water system urgently needs fixing.
“Earlier this week our ground-breaking Water Act became law, with new powers to ban the payment of unfair bonuses for polluting water bosses and bring criminal charges against lawbreakers.
“Our plan for change will clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.
“I urge people to respond to this call for evidence on what needs to change to clean up our waterways and rebuild our broken water infrastructure.”
Commenting on the launch of the Water Commission’s call for evidence, the chairman of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Alistair Carmichael, whose committee is investigating the problems in the industry, said: “There is huge public concern about the performance of water companies amidst repeated incidents of water outages, sewage pollution and outbreaks of contamination in domestic water supplies.
“I encourage the public to engage with the Water Commission’s call for evidence and to use this opportunity to make their voices heard on the issues involved in cleaning up the unsatisfactory state of the country’s water services.”
