- Investment of £10bn to tackle storm overflows with a target to reduce spills from storm overflows by 44% from levels in 2021
- Customer bills proposed to increase on average by £19 a year over the next five years – a third less than the bill increase requested by companies
- New initiative to ring fence investment funding with a claw back guarantee which will ensure money not spent on investment is returned to customers
- Companies to double support available for customers in need of a helping hand
Ofwat has today proposed allowing a spending package of £88bn by water companies.
£35bn of the expenditure reflects the investment needed to reduce pollution, improve customer service, river and bathing water quality, and deliver greater resilience to the impact of climate change. This is more than a trebling of the level of investment in the 2020 to 2025 period.
The total expenditure proposed is £16bn lower than in companies’ business plans. This reflects Ofwat’s analysis of those plans, removing or reducing costs where expenditure is insufficiently justified, inefficient or for activity for which companies have already been funded; customers will not pay twice.
The consumer will still pay the cost of a clean-up under Labour.
The average bill increase for water and wastewater companies will be £19 a year over five years (£94 in total), excluding inflation. Companies’ business plans proposed increases averaging £144 over five years. Ofwat’s interventions have reduced the level of bill increases proposed by companies. For example, Thames Water’s proposed increase of £191 by 2030 has been reduced to £99; Severn Trent’s proposed increase of £144 has been reduced to £93.
Companies have been required to prepare for the future by setting their plans in the context of a 25-year delivery strategy. These proposals include the work of the regulators’ joint team RAPID, which is helping to accelerate the delivery of £17bn of new water assets including 6 reservoirs, some of which are part of the wider programme of major projects; in total 9 new reservoirs are proposed.
Water and wastewater companies – average bills for 2024-25 and 2029-30