Welsh Water to add social purpose pledge to constitution

Welsh Water has proposed changing its constitution to embed commitments to public service and focus on customers.

The proposal, which will be put to its independent members for approval next month, comes as the company announces its financial results for the first six months of the year.

They showed first half capital investment of £218 million, with a total of £440 million expected by the end of the year.

Operating profit remained largely unchanged at £39 million (2018: £38 million), while regulatory gearing has remained steady at 58 per cent (58 per cent in March 2019 and down from 93 per cent in 2001).

In terms of operational performance, the company reported 99.97 per cent overall compliance with quality standards in tests at water treatment works, in the network, and customers’ taps in the nine months to September 2019 (September 2018: 99.98 per cent).

It said leakage levels had been reduced further, totalling 166 megalitres per day (2018: 169 megalitres per day). While customer minutes lost to supply interruptions was down to 5.6 minutes, compared to 8.5 minutes as of last September.

Chairman Alastair Lyons said: “The first six months of the year reflect good overall performance and continued record levels of investment in our network and customer service – a reflection of the great work done across all areas of the business. Our challenge as a company is to maintain this performance for the rest of the year.

“Our plans for the new five-year investment period reflect what our customers have said they want from us, aiming to balance maintaining vital investment in our services, protecting the environment, and keeping customer bills as affordable as possible. This is at the heart of both our short and long-term focus as a company.”

Welsh Water chief executive Chris Jones said: “I am encouraged by the strong operational and financial position the company is in as we prepare to enter a very challenging, new five-year regulatory period early next year.

“Our investment programme remains at record-high levels – building the resilience of our water and wastewater network in the face of long-term challenges such as climate change – while realising our promise to ensure a decade of below-RPI inflation price increases every year for our customers.

“These achievements exemplify our proposed new statement of the company’s purpose – to enhance the well-being of our customers and the communities we serve, both now and for generations to come.”

As previously announced, Peter Perry – currently Welsh Water’s Managing Director – will succeed Jones as chief executive in April 2020.