Steve Reed has confirmed that DEFRA will abolish Ofwat and replace it with a new umbrella regulator. Speaking after Jon Cunliffe’s independent report called for the regulator to go, Reed said:
“Today I can announce that the Labour government will abolish Ofwat. In the biggest overhaul of water regulation in a generation, we will bring water functions from four different regulators into one. A single powerful regulator responsible for the entire water sector. There are four further recommendations that the government can accept immediately and I will outline those in Parliament this afternoon. The new regulator will stand firmly on the side of customers, investors, and the environment. And it will prevent the abuses of the past for customers. It will oversee investment and maintenance so hardworking British families are never again hit by the shocking bill hikes we saw last year as customers were left to pay the price of 14 years of failure by the previous government.”
Reed has an oral statement later in the Commons. The beleaguered regulator finally getting flushed. Remains to be seen whether the new one will ‘regulate for growth’…
Read the government’s release below:
Ofwat is to be replaced by one single water regulator responsible for the entire water system, the Government has announced today (Monday 21 July).
In the biggest overhaul of the water sector since privatisation, Ofwat will be abolished and its functions will be merged with water functions across the Environment Agency, Natural England and the Drinking Water Inspectorate to form a new single, powerful regulator.
In a speech at Kingfisher Wharf, the Secretary of State for the Environment, Steve Reed pledged to strengthen regulation, clean up the country’s s rivers and protect the public from soaring water bills.
There are currently four separate regulators responsible for the water industry, a complex, tangled system of confusion. It is a merry-go-round of regulators blaming each other for breaking this country’s water system.
Ofwat has failed customers, allowing water companies to mismanage billions of pounds of customer money while water companies paid out huge dividends and bonuses.
Our water industry is broken. That is why this Government will fix our broken regulatory system so the failures of the past never happen again.
The Government will abolish Ofwat. In the biggest overhaul of water regulation in a generation, we will bring water functions from four different regulators into one.
A single, powerful regulator responsible for the entire water sector will stand firmly on the side of customers, investors and the environment and prevent the abuses of the past.
>It will provide the clarity and direction required for a strong partnership between Government, the sector and investors to attract billions of pounds of new investment.
The creation of one powerful regulator will be responsible for the entire water sector restoring public faith and investor confidence in our water industry.
The current fragmented approach of four separate regulators splits up economic, environmental and drinking water regulation. This complex web of regulators has led to contradictory and competing priorities.
The reforms will ensure all regulation is in lock step to deliver for customers and the environment, bringing all water regulation under one roof.
The proposals will be consulted on this autumn and form the basis of a new Water Reform Bill.
This comes on the back of a bold, personal commitment from Environment Secretary, Steve Reed, to cut sewage pollution from water companies in half by 2030. Working to make our rivers the cleanest since records began, It is the most ambitious sewage target Government has ever set.
The Government has begun rebuilding the entire water network through one of the largest infrastructure projects in the country’s history. £104 billion is being invested to upgrade crumbling pipes and build sewage treatment works across the country, ensuring communities can once again take pride in their beaches, rivers and lakes.
These reforms build on decisive action taken by the Government over the past year to clean up England’s rivers, lakes and seas:
The Secretary of State for the Environment will outline five recommendations that the Government will fast track in Parliament later today.
Alongside our creation of a new single regulator in England, we will work closely with Welsh government to devolve economic regulation of water to Wales.
Speaking on Times Radio, former Home Secretary David Blunkett spoke about overdiagnosis of mental problems:
“Let’s distinguish those who are really severely mentally ill, diagnosed with things that require prolonged medical and diagnostic treatment. My wife and I talk about this a lot, because she’s a retired GP, about the fact that you can be sad without being ill. You can be momentarily depressed because your boyfriend or girlfriend’s just thrown you and you’re not mentally ill. You can even have mild issues, which can be dealt with with the right kind of support, but it doesn’t make you mentally ill. So we’ve got a real task, I think, to get the psychology, if you like, of this over. But there are things where you definitely need medical intervention, and there are other things where you need good friends, you need good connectivity, and you need a job.”