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Water companies will be asked what information they should submit to the regulator in a consultation this autumn, as Ofwat seeks to define a new strategy.
The regulator, which is enacting a 30% budget cut handed down from government and is set to shed 46 jobs this summer, is seeking to “ruthlessly prioritise” its interventions in the sector.
At a strategy day for stakeholders held last week, chief executive Cathryn Ross laid out the emerging plans and sought feedback from stakeholders including water company chief executives, customer groups and green NGOs.
The group agreed that “trust and confidence” was the vision for the water sector. This trust and confidence will be created by outcomes – customers getting what they want and can afford – and strong relationships through the sector.
To deliver this, Ofwat itself will continue the focus on outcomes that has characterised PR14, as opposed to earlier price reviews which focused more on inputs and processes. It will seek to work collaboratively with other organisations – for example, as in the current work with the sector on alternative dispute resolution.
Ross said: “If we are focusing on the stuff that matters most, how do we know what that is? We need to develop a new dashboard that answers the questions: what does good look like and are we moving in the right direction? We have been trialling some new KPIs this year and we will be coming out in the autumn on new KPIs that will be more aligned with our new strategy.”
Ofwat will publish a draft strategy in the autumn.
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