The prospective new Chair of the government’s independent water regulator, OFWAT, Iain Coucher, will appear before the House of Commons’ Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee next week for a pre-appointment hearing at 09.45am on Wednesday 20 April 2022.

The former Chief Executive of Network Rail and, subsequently, Chief Executive of the Atomic Weapons Establishment, has been named by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as the government’s preferred candidate for the role.

Parliamentary Select Committees hold pre-appointment hearings as part of their scrutiny function. A pre-appointment hearing is not a final interview for the candidate but a check on the Secretary of State to make sure they are not appointing someone who is unsuitable. A Committee can support an appointment without reservation, support it with reservations or conditions, or - in rare cases - oppose it. A Committee’s recommendations are not binding on the government, but the Secretary of State is expected to consider them.

OFWAT is the non-ministerial government department responsible for the economic regulation of the privatised water and sewage industry in England and Wales. One of its key roles is to set the price paid by consumers – the next Price Review which will determine what the water companies will be able to invest between 2025 to 2030 will take place in 2024. 

Jonson Cox CBE, the current Chair of Ofwat, was appointed to the role in November 2012.

Prior to that as Managing Director of Yorkshire Water from 1996 to 2000 he led the company out of a significant crisis with its customers and restored its top-ranking status in the industry. After other infrastructure roles, he returned to the water sector for over six years, 2004 – 2010, as Group CEO at Anglian Water Group.