The recent turmoil surrounding the water sector has led to questions about how best to operate and finance the UK’s vital infrastructure. Yet focusing solely on the question of ownership or how private capital finances and manages infrastructure and utilities creates an “overly simplistic narrative”, according to Simon Ede and Tilmann Hensel-Roth of Charles River Associates. Writing for Utility Week the pair outline why the narrative needs to shift from binary debates about ownership to a more nuanced conversation about function, responsibility, and sustainable financing models.