Water industry regulator Ofwat has launched a new consultation on corporate governance setting out its views on issues of Board leadership, transparency and governance.

Water industry regulator Ofwat has written to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs setting out its views on work it thinks the water companies in England and Wales need to do in finalising their Draft Water Resources Management Plans.

Ofwat is giving notice to Thames Water that it is making counter-claims relating to underinvestment in sewer flooding and the wastewater network in response to the utility’s request for a price rise in 2014/15.

Britain must establish an independent National Infrastructure Commission to end decades of drift and delay on major infrastructure decisions, according to a Labour-commissioned review carried out by Sir John Armitt.

A new Briefing Note on Waterbriefing by Anthony Legg at FTI Consulting raises some interesting pointers on the PR14 methodology and business planning statement issued by Ofwat last week setting out how it intends to set price limits for the 2015-20 period.

Ofwat has today published its final methodology and expectations for the water companies’ business plans which will set out their five year investment programmes for 2015-2020. The water industry regulator said that a “closer look at companies’ retail services and encouraging water trading alone” will deliver a £2 billion benefit.

In an Expert Focus article for Waterbriefing, Alex Stephenson, Director of Hydro International’s UK Stormwater Division and Chair of the British Water Sustainable Water Management (SuWM) Focus Group looks at the wider implications for the uptake of Sustainable Drainage Systems as the Water Bill makes its way through Parliament.

In an Expert Focus article for WaterBriefing, Chris Phillips, Marketing Director at UK-headquartered i2O Water, calls for radical restructuring and de-regulation of the UK water sector to drive innovation.