Water customers in England and Wales can now go to an independent adjudicator if their complaint has not been resolved by their water company and after intervention from the Consumer Council for Water (CCWater).

Water industry regulator Ofwat has set out its final forward work programme for 2015-16 - which includes flagging up "possible changes" in water company ownership. 

The European Commission is referring the United Kingdom to Court over its failure to ensure that urban waste water is adequately treated in 17 agglomerations i.e. towns, cities and settlements.

In an Expert Focus article for Waterbriefing, Suzanne Rab, barrister from Serle Court discusses why Bristol Water’s decision to split its upstream and downstream businesses following Ofwat’s investigation of a dispute with Self-Lay Organisations has raised issues of fundamental importance for the water sector in the run-up to the introduction of further competition in 2017.

From April 2016, large companies will be required to publish their payment practices twice a year to make sure that small companies do not get caught out. Large firms will have to publish the information to a central digital location such as an online portal, which will be made publically available by the government.

MPs are concerned that the hollowing out of Defra has left the core Department less effective in persuading decision-makers in other government departments and Brussels to follow its agenda.

In a case which Ofwat says raises “issues of strategic significance” for the water sector, the regulator has published its final decision to accept binding commitments from Bristol Water under the Competition Act 1998 on new water connections.