The view of water regulation in England and Wales published today by the Public Accounts Committee is one-sided and misleading, according to Water UK.

The picture that emerges from the Committee’s report Ofwat: Meeting the demand for water shows National Audit Office findings in a particularly negative light and ignores major investment and improvements in water resources management and planning achieved by water companies in recent years.

Such an account is misleading in its exaggerated criticism of Ofwat and in many of its recommendations. In some areas the Committee has not looked enough into the context of current policies and consequently reaches conclusions of doubtful value.

Example: Water Meters

The PAC says Ofwat should press companies to encourage more consumers to use meters. It shows no awareness of the moves now being made to increase meter use in areas of potential water shortage.

Example: Enforcement Action

The PAC is strident in its demand for maximum fines for failure to meet targets. It cannot accept in a recent case that Ofwat’s order to a company to invest a large sum over and above its planned expenditure was widely judged a more appropriate alternative.

Example: Measuring Water Efficiency

The PAC says that "collecting robust evidence on water efficiency should be one of Ofwat’s top priorities". This is clearly important and the industry, with Ofwat and others, is committed to improving knowledge of what helps people to reduce waste.

But it is surely of a different order of priority from Ofwat’s legal duties which include protecting the interests of consumers, having regard to the interests of vulnerable groups and enabling companies to carry out their functions properly.