The National Audit Office (NAO) has today published a highly critical report saying that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and water regulators have failed to drive necessary investment for the sector, which now faces significant environmental, supply and infrastructure challenges.

Fitch's UK Water lead analyst Yeshvir Singh, Senior Director at Fitch Ratings explains why Ofwat’s Final Determination (FD) for the AMP8 regulatory period April 2025 to March 2030 marks a key milestone for the assessment of the UK water sector’s regulatory framework.

Severn Trent Plc is anticipating “at least £50 million in ODI rewards this year”, according to its latest trading update for the period to 13 February 2024.

Ofwat is today confirming the financial penalties and payments for all water companies for the 2022-23 year, with the majority of companies having to return money to customers. Thames Water will return the most to customers, with a final determination of £73.8 million.

Ofwat says that under-performance by the majority of water and wastewater companies in England and Wales, will mean companies have to return £114 million to customers next year.

Ofwat has published a new paper setting out how it has used collaborative customer research to set Outcome Delivery Incentive (ODI) rates for the 2024 price review (PR24) in which the regulator acknowledges the limitations of the data collection process.

The Government is considering extending a new economic Growth Duty to Ofwat which would see the water sector regulator required to “have regard to the desirability of promoting economic growth” when carrying out core functions.

Thames Water will have to return £51 million to its customers and Southern Water almost £30 million after missing key performance targets.

Water sector regulator Ofwat has today announced that most water companies will be hit by financial penalties because of missed targets - overall, almost £150 million in total will be taken off customers' bills in the next financial year at 11 companies.

Ofwat has set out proposals to develop a new approach to regulating operational resilience to achieve the best outcomes for customers, society and the environment.