Sutton and East Surrey accepts Ofwat price controls

Sutton and East Surrey Water has become the seventh water company to accept Ofwat’s final price controls on its business plans for the rest of the decade.

Late on Monday the water company said “following careful consideration” it would accept the plans which will see its customers’ average water bill fall by three per cent from the current £186 per year to £180 a year by 2019/20.

The UK’s water companies have until Thursday 12 February to accept Ofwat’s controls or request a referral to the Competition and Markets Authority to review Ofwat’s determinations.

So far Thames Water, South Staffs Water, Affinity Water, Anglian Water, United Utilities and Severn Trent are among the companies that have accepted Ofwat’s final determinations.

Only Bristol Water has rejected the price controls saying they are not “in the long term interest of our customers and stakeholders”.

Sutton and East Surrey Water managing director Anthony Ferrar said in a statement: “We will now be focusing our attention on delivering the key outcomes highlighted in our Business Plan to ensure they can be delivered within the total cost allowances included in Ofwat’s determination.”