Ofwat has published its draft work forward programme for 2025-26 for consultation and is inviting interested stakeholders to comment by 5pm on Friday 28 February 2025.
Ofwat has published its draft work forward programme for 2025-26 for consultation and is inviting interested stakeholders to comment by 5pm on Friday 28 February 2025.
The regulator said it knows the water sector is facing multiple challenges associated with population growth and climate change. It also recognises that water company performance is not where it should be and is not meeting customers’ expectations.
Introducing the consultation, Ofwat said:
“Our work last year, through our price control (PR24), provides an opportunity to drive investment and materially improve the service all customers receive across England and Wales for 2025-30. As we move into a new price review period, and look beyond, we need to consider the design of the regulatory framework of the future. We look forward to engaging with all our stakeholders on this and with the important work of the independent commission led by Sir Jon Cunliffe and the other reviews underway.“
Ofwat has developed the following three strategic priorities for 2025-26 to ensure it play a its part in transforming the sector:
- Delivering for customers and the environment
- Enabling growth and addressing long-term challenges
- Holding water companies to account
Ofwat Chief Executive David Black says in the paper:
“As we move into a new price review period, and look beyond, we need to consider a range of questions on the design of the regulatory framework for the future. We will reflect on the lessons from PR24 and the changing dynamics in the water system as we work with our partner regulators to enable and ensure water companies deliver value for the environment, customers and communities in the decades to come….
“We intend to take forward significant new work next year both to monitor and to hold the sector to account to deliver its ambitious PR24 investment and to improve performance, including by progressing our strategic enforcement activity.
“We will also begin work to develop the framework for future price reviews to enable the sector to plan and deliver the system and service that will protect the environment, provide better customer service and support a growing economy and population.
“We will further develop the framework for the delivery of major projects. There are 30 new significant infrastructure projects to create a water sector that is sustainable in terms of its environmental impact and its provision of water to meet customers’ needs. This reflects a step change in investment in the sector and will have significant implications for both supply chain and investors. The regulatory model used for the Thames Tideway Tunnel, which will cut sewage discharges by 95% along its length, has delivered a range of benefits, including more efficient financing, and we see our ability to extend this to other major infrastructure initiatives as a key enabler for fresh investment. We will continue to work to ensure the right environment for attracting responsible investors with a long-term commitment….
."To achieve all our aims, we recognise the sector needs to be able to attract the finance to fund growth of the asset base and for water companies to be financially resilient.”
Click here to download Ofwat’s consultation paper
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