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The creaking water industry is set for a “once-in-a-generation set of reforms”, the government has said as it proposes new legislation to overhaul the system.
Nightmare situations such as taps running dry in Kent and Sussex this month would be avoided, the government says, thanks to a new proactive system that would perform “MOTs” on water companies to preempt major failures.
Ministers are set to unveil a series of reforms in parliament on Tuesday as they move ahead with a major shake-up in the industry in England and Wales, including abolishing the current system of overlapping regulators.
Public confidence in the old way collapsed as sewage spills grew and pipes crumbled, while water company bosses enjoyed ever bigger bonuses.
The new plans, outlined in a White Paper on Tuesday, would create a single regulator, as well as an ombudsman to make it easier for bill-payers to complain about their suppliers.
But campaigners and the water industry have warned the proposals won’t come in soon or reach far enough.
‘Nowhere to hide’
Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds called the proposals a “once-in-a-generation set of reforms” to tackle water pollution and “poor performance by water companies”.
Under the government’s proposals, water companies will have to perform health checks on their infrastructure to proactively identify problems with pipes or sewage treatment works before they fail.
A new chief engineer at the regulator will also bring back hands-on checks of infrastructure, something not seen for 20 years.
Ms Reynolds told Sky News: “We’re going to move away from a system whereby water companies mark their own homework to having a new regulator – abolishing Ofwat – with more teeth, so that there’ll be nowhere to hide for poor performance.”
Change ‘desperately needed’
It comes as complaints to the consumer body, the Consumer Council for Water, rose 50% in the last year while trust hit an “all-time low”.
Its chief executive Mike Keil…
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