Drop in customer satisfaction with water companies

A “real gap” exists between the best and worst performers in the water sector, Ofwat’s service delivery report has found.

In the report, which was published today (29 October), Ofwat said the industry as a whole has not kept up the progress made in previous years.

For example, although customer satisfaction increased in 2015-16, it deteriorated in 2018-19.

The report compares performance of the the 17 largest water companies in England and Wales across metrics such as leakage and pollution, and how much was spent to deliver them.

It is the first time such data has been collated in this way.

The worst performers are Thames Water and Hafren Dyfrdwy, both of which were ranked poorly in areas such as customer service and supply interruptions.

In contrast, Anglian Water, Wessex Water and Portsmouth Water lead the sector in delivering services for customers overall and spent less than anticipated in doing so.

The companies have been grouped into three categories (better performers, average performers, and poorer performers) based on their performance against the commitments they made in 2014.

Key findings of the report include the fact that 11 companies achieved their leakage performance commitment targets in 2018-19. Eight companies have made modest reductions in leakage, but these are more than offset by the increases made by the poorer performing companies.

However, the sector has made little progress on reducing leakage since 2012-13.

Rachel Fletcher, chief Executive of Ofwat, said: “This latest report card on the water sector shows some real variation in company performance.

“Customers served by Anglian, Wessex and Portsmouth tend to have a better service. But it also shows some inertia at the bottom of the pack with Thames Water and Hafren Dyfrdwy underperforming across a wide range of measures.

“It’s great that we are seeing some real improvements on things that matter – like reducing sewer flooding. But in other areas the industry’s performance is stagnating.

“Ofwat’s new strategy and the challenges we are setting in the price review for the five-year period to 2025, require companies to transform their performance, particularly those at the bottom of the pile.

“We are raising what we expect from companies and in responding to that, they will need to show innovation and real ambition.”

A spokesperson for Thames Water said: “We’ve taken action to improve service and get things right first time for our customers when they need us, with complaints down 10 per cent since April.

“Keeping taps flowing while reducing leakage also remains a top priority. We’re investing more than £1 million every day and expect our leakage performance to continuously improve this year, in line with our target of a 15 per cent reduction by 2025.”

Meanwhile a spokesperson for Hafren Dyfrdwy said: “The first year of Hafren Dyfrdwy has very much been a learning experience after the company was established halfway through the year and, while there’s much to do, there have also been some significant steps forward.

“Customers enjoy the lowest average combined bills in the country and our wastewater performance in Wales has been a standout for the sector. Going forward we intend to increase investment by 4 per cent for every customer between 2020 and 2025.”