CUSTOMERS WILL GET SERVICE THEY DESERVE, SAYS ENVIRONMENT SECRETARY

WATER companies will be required to carry out infrastructure "MOTs" to prevent major failures under plans for a new industry watchdog, the Government has said.

- By REBECCA SPEARE-COLE

Ministers are set to unveil a series of reforms in Parliament as they move ahead with a major regulatory shakeup that will see Ofwat abolished and the current system of overlapping oversight by four different bodies merged into a single regulator.

The Water White Paper, published yesterday morning (Tuesday, January 20), outlines powers planned for this new watchdog, which aim to put failure prevention first and strengthen accountability.

Under the proposals, water companies will have to perform health checks on their infrastructure to proactively identify crumbling pipes, pumps or issues at sewage treatment works before they fail.

The hope is that risks such as South East Water's pipes bursting in cold weather, which recently left thousands of homes without supply, are identified in advance.

A chief engineer will also sit inside the new water regulator for the first time in two decades to bring back hands-on checks of infrastructure, so that firms "are not marking their own homework".

Ofwat will unlikely be formally axed before 2027, and the process to establish the new regulator will be complex meaning it is unclear when it will start operating.

The Government is due to set out a transition path in the coming months, as well as a new water reform bill to bring forward the legislation needed for the system to take effect.

Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said: "These are once-in-a-generation reforms for our water system tough oversight, real accountability, and no more excuses.