The Regulators’ Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development (RAPID) has published a review of its work on progressing the delivery priorities set out in its Forward Programme for 2020-21.
The partnership of three water regulators – Ofwat, the Environment Agency and the Drinking Water Inspectorate - was formed to help facilitate the development and funding of new large-scale strategic water supply solutions by the water companies.
The National Infrastructure Commission has estimated that new water supplies equivalent to the water consumed by over nine million people would be needed by the mid 2030’s. RAPID has been set up to identify and address issues relevant to the development of joint infrastructure projects and to analyse the feasibility of nationally strategic supply solutions.
To date the water companies have proposed 18 solutions (including 15 submitted in July 2021) and RAPID is encouraging more to be planned.
The year 2020-21 was the first year for the RAPID programme, much of which was spent planning and gearing up for the first gated deadline, accelerated gate one. Submissions for the proposed solutions were received back in September 2020 and the final decisions were announced in January 2021.
The gated process is intended to ensure that companies complete the activities expected for the additional funding. The process allows for cross-comparison of solutions at regular intervals to identify the best opportunities for optimum results.
According to the Review, the gated assessment process has served to identify early “some issues that may not have come to light until much later had the solutions been following a typical water resources management plan (WRMP) delivery route.”
The Review has also flagged up a low response rate, particularly from water companies, to a survey conducted by RAPID in 2020 with stakeholders seeking qualitative and quantitative data aimed at generating intelligence on “what we were doing well and identify areas where we fell short and required improvement.” RAPID is now considering how to improve the response rate for future years.
Introducing the review, Paul Hickey Managing Director RAPID commented:
“The innovative nature of RAPID has allowed three regulators to come together to ensure that we drive forward the water resilient solutions that will make a big positive impact on the environment and water customers in the long term.
“The RAPID programme is progressing well, and I am confident that we will help to deliver the major water resource solutions that are urgently needed to provide greater resilience for water supplies, deliver value for money, meet the needs of public health and helps to enhance the environment.”
Click here to download RAPID annual progress review 2020-21
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