Alastair Chisholm, Policy Director, Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM),discusses the Government’s plans to reform the water sector outlined in a speech last week by Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed.

The fifth round of Ofwat’s Innovation Fund Water Breakthrough Challenge has opened today, with approximately £40 million available for projects delivered in partnership with water companies in England and Wales.

Defra Minister Steve Reed has announced that the Government is to carry out a full review of the water sector, saying that “fourteen years of Tory failure have left much of our infrastructure in disrepair.”

The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Rt Hon Steve Reed MP, has approved Thames Water’s Water Resource Management Plan (WRMP).

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced the introduction of major new legislation for the water sector which is set to deliver the most significant increase in enforcement powers in a decade.

The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) is calling for a critical plan designed to protect and improve Northern Ireland’s waters needs to be strengthened and implemented without further delay, in a new report released today.

David Black, current Chief Executive of Ofwat has taken up his new role as CEO for the UK Regulators Network (UKRN) – the role is in addition to his responsibilities as CEO of the water sector regulator.

Retail water market operator MOSL is warning that funding and Price Control Deliverables (PCDs) for smart metering set out in Ofwat’s draft determinations create a significant risk that companies will not be able to deliver demand reductions during PR24 to stay on track for Defra’s 9% reduction target by 2038.

Anglian Water’s Regulation Director, Darren Rice, outlines the changes Ofwat needs to make to ensure the water company’s Final Determination is investable and deliverable, following discussions with the regulator on Anglian’s proposed business plan for 2025-2030, saying: "As it stands the allowed return proposed in the Draft Determination will not enable us or the wider sector to attract the necessary debt and equity capital to fund AMP8 investment programmes."

Water UK is warning that unless Ofwat changes its approach, equity investors will not provide all the capital the sector needs at AMP8, especially when more attractive investment opportunities are available elsewhere.