The water sector in England and Wales “needs an emergency,” said Environment Secretary Steve Reed.
The public, environmental groups and investors have been invited to their point of view on how the water sector can be modified by an organization set up by the British government.
The head of a new independent commission will invite ideas on how to repair the water industry in difficulty in England and Wales.
Sir John Cunliffe, a former deputy from the Bank of England will launch his call for evidence in Manchester on Thursday morning.
There was anger of the growing public about the performance of the water company in the middle of period leaks and booming tickets.
The commission, chaired by the former deputy governor of the Bank of England, Sir Jon Cunliffe, is looking for opinions on reform.
Reed excluded nationalization, saying that it would cost up to 100 billion pounds sterling, and that the navigable channels would continue to be polluted while the private property structures were not picked.
Instead, the government wants private investments to improve the sewer system and tanks.
To achieve this, the OFWAT regulator has enabled the water industry to increase invoices, which will increase an average of £ 123 per year from April.
There were 3.6 million hours of wastewater spills in the lakes, rivers and the seas of England by water companies in 2023, which represents more than double the previous year.
Reed said there were “serious concerns” and “locking” with the sector that need “ambitious changes”, and recognized that “confidence in the system” had “decomposed on all sides”.
He said that there had been “bad decisions and poor performance by companies, regulatory gaps, instability of policies and history of ad hoc changes that have left an increasingly complex system that no longer works well for anyone”.
But he said that these problems were not the “inevitable” consequence of privatization.
The government has created the Independent Water Commission promising the greatest upheaval in the sector since privatization 35 years ago.
SIR Jon should recognize the generalized dissatisfaction with several failures and will ask for submissions from regulators, investors, industry leaders and the public on potential reforms.
It will recognize tensions between the various regulators, increasing requests place on the system by climate and population growth and making the sector attractive for private investors.
His examination comes as six companies call on OFWAT decisions to limit invoice increases over the next five years.
The commission report, expected in June, will not affect this process.
To try to make companies more responsible, the government has introduced a law that gives regulators the power to prohibit bonuses for water company patterns.
In addition, executives who do not cooperate or obstruct the investigators could incur prison sentences that can go up to two years.
