About Consultation
This consultation sets out proposed updates to Ofwat’s statutory guidance “Criteria for selecting specified infrastructure projects”, issued in May 2015[1]. We are updating this guidance to take account of changes which have taken place in the regulated water sector since 2015.
Ofwat takes this guidance into account in determining whether to specify an infrastructure project as a ‘specified infrastructure project’ which is required to be put out to competitive tender under the Water Industry (Specified Infrastructure Projects) (English Undertakers) Regulations 2013[2] (the Regulations).
We have structured this consultation into three chapters:
- Chapter 1 outlines the background to the statutory guidance and explains our rationale for updating it.
- Chapter 2 explains the proposed updates / amendments that are included in the draft updated guidance which is set out in the Appendix.
- Chapter 3 sets out the proposed next steps following this consultation.
We seek stakeholder views on the proposed updates / amendments through questions in chapter 2.
[1] Criteria for selecting specified infrastructure projects – Ofwat guidance, May 2015
[2] The Regulations were made pursuant to the powers conferred on the Secretary of State by Part 2A of the Water Industry Act 1991. These provisions were inserted into the Act by section 35 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. The SI number for the Regulations is 2013 No. 1582 and they can be found along with the Explanatory Memorandum and Impact Assessment on the legislation.gov.uk website at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/all/2013/1582. The Regulations were amended on 9 January 2015, in 2016, 2020 and 2024. The Regulations and subsequent amendments can also be found on the website Legislation.gov.uk.