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Ofwat has set out how customer preferences will inform the next price review after carrying out research together with CCW that highlighted affordability, resilience and fairness as key issues for consumers.
Data from focus groups and interviews form the first step in the regulator and the watchdog collaborating on national consumer engagement, something CCW recommended following the 2019 price review.
It assessed how people feel about 24 water company activities including supply issues and acceptability of interruptions; water quality; internal flooding and sewage; river water. It showed that billpayers agreed that the common performance commitments being considered for PR24 reflect what matters to them as water customers.
Rated by importance and impact, the results showed people cared more about issues that were more likely to personally affect them, which included drinking water quality and the risk of internal flooding. Less importance was given to bathing water, combined sewer overflows, carbon emissions, water efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Although supply interruptions emerged as a priority, the research showed people would find planned interruptions acceptable if they were well informed, which Ofwat said could “open up the possibility of companies using more low carbon solutions to reduce leakage that may require longer interruption times.”
The research showed people were more interested in, and related better to, specific impacts of company activities rather than wider measures such as biodiversity or carbon emissions.
Similarly to the Savanta research released by Ofwat and CCW last week, understanding of how water and sewerage services work was low, as was interest in learning more about how the system works. Services that do, or might, impact billpayers’ everyday lives were seen as most important and those with immediate impacts were rated as a higher priority than consequences in the more distant future.
The regulator said companies are still expected to carry out their own regional engagement to understand local priorities that may drive bespoke commitments. It will use the collaborative and local research when considering outcome delivery incentive rates.
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