On 25 February Ofwat hosted its Turning the Tide conference in Westminster bringing together water companies, eNGOs, campaigners and others from the sector to discuss the AMP8 period and year ahead.

The House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee has this morning announced the schedule for its upcoming evidence sessions with water companies, as part of its ‘reforming the water sector’ inquiry.

Ahead of the announcement of Ofwat’s PR24 Final Determinations for the water companies on 19^th December, the Competition and Markets Authority yesterday published new rules and guidance on the redeterminations process.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is consulting on draft new rules and guidance which will apply in the event of any appeals by water companies against the Final Determinations Ofwat reaches in Price Reviews.

Ofwat has today confirmed its final decision to allow 33 infrastructure schemes, totalling £2.2 billion, with work valued at around £500 million beginning in the next two financial years, from 2023-24. 

Ofwat is warning that water and wastewater companies are falling behind on their investment plans, with some companies using less than half of their allowances to improve their water network, leaving promised service improvements behind schedule or undelivered.

Ofwat CEO David Black and Chair Iain Coucher have rejected suggestions by an influential Parliamentary Committee that since privatisation of the water sector, recent Price Reviews had focussed on keeping customer bills low at the expense of allowing sufficient investment in water and wastewater infrastructure.

Former Ofwat Chief Executive Cathryn Ross has raised the question of whether the Price Review process - the regulatory framework of five-year price reviews for the water sector - is still fit for purpose.

 The House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee will continue its inquiry on the work of Ofwat, the UK’s water regulator, by taking evidence from Ofwat’s CEO David Black, and Chair Iain Coucher from 10.30am on Tuesday 25 October.

The House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee is today launching a new inquiry investigating the work of Ofwat, the Water Services Regulation Authority.