Consumer water watchdog CCW has launched a consultation on its new draft strategy setting out its plans for 2022-23.

CCW’s strategy includes campaigning to end water poverty by implementing a single social tariff across England and Wales. CCW said that even before the economic impact of Covid-19, 1 in 10 households in England and Wales had told them that they struggled to afford their water bill.

“Water companies do offer help through social tariffs, but this support is not consistent and the number of people who we think could qualify far exceeds the level of funding that is available,” the strategy says.

The watchdog will also continue the campaign which began in 2021 to end the misery caused by sewer flooding. CCW will campaign to deliver more support and compensation for those who suffer repeat sewer flooding by 2023, including standard on-site times by 2023 and a review of how compensation is offered.

The draft strategy outlines CCW’s plans under the following four overarching objectives, alongside the progression of its existing campaigns and the introduction of some new ones.

People and the environment

• Unite the industry under a CCW-led campaign to raise awareness of the value of water in society and how people's behaviour impacts the water environment.
• Conduct a global analysis of past and present initiatives that have sought to educate people about water to co-create an action plan by March 2023 using a citizens' forum.
• Improve the availability of public information on environmental issues by introducing new digital tools on CCW’s website by March 2023

Affordability and vulnerability

• Publish a one-year-on report in Summer 2022, which shows clear progress against all ten of the recommendations from the independent review of water affordability.
• Share the findings from all water companies' affordability review pilots by Summer 2023, to set a new standard of 'best practice' performance.
• Raise people's awareness of the financial support offered by their water company.

Business customers

• Reduce the number of complaints received by CCW from business customers by 10%* by March 2023.
• Help business customers become better informed about their payment options and the credit levels on their accounts, and work to ensure retailers return the credit owed to business customers on an annual basis, from April 2023.
• Publish a report by March 2023 assessing how the first five years of the market have delivered for business customers.

Customer complaints journey

• Speed up CCW’s initial response to customers so that they hear back from CCW within 2 days.
• Work with all parties to establish a onestop shop for mediation and adjudication for customer complaints by October 2023

The water watchdog is now inviting comment on its draft strategy for 2022-23 – deadline to submit responses is Tuesday 15 February 2022.

Click here to download CCW’s Draft Strategy 2022-23