Ofwat has published an assessment which confirms that regulated companies have taken further steps towards improving their accountability to customers – but more needs to be done by company owners (‘holding companies’).
Regulated companies had until 1 April 2015 to the meet Ofwat’s board leadership, transparency and governance principles, which set out the regulator’s minimum expectations for companies in these areas.
Keith Mason – Senior Director of Finance and Networks said:
“Companies need to continue to build trust and confidence with their customers. That not only means delivering what customers want, but explaining how they are set up to do that in a fair way. Good governance is vital.
“The regulated companies have made progress in making themselves more accountable to their customers by meeting our principles. That includes for some companies changing the composition and balance of their boards and committees. We want to see both regulated and holding companies making further progress, so we will be looking at their annual reports with interest”.
The next step is for Ofwat to examine each regulated company’s 2014-15 reporting to understand how the principles, particularly in relation to transparency, are being met in practice. Ofwat will publish its findings in the autumn.
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Notes to editors
- The Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat) is the economic regulator of water and sewerage companies in England and Wales. Its role is to help the sector build trust and confidence with customers, the environment and wider society. It exercises its powers in a way that it judges will protect the interests of consumers, promote value and safeguard future water and sewerage services by allowing efficient companies to carry out their functions properly, and finance them.
- Media enquiries to Ofwat Press Office on:
Benedict Fisher 0121 644 7642 / [email protected]