(by Verity Mitchell) Rating agency S&P’s regulatory assessment of water companies in England and Wales is now strong/adequate. According to a new report, it sees a weakening of regulatory and financial stability and a risk of reduced regulatory independence. It considers that only a few companies will be able to create a sustainable competitive advantage. Although S&P continues to view the tariff-setting process for water utilities in England and Wales as transparent and supp

(by Karma Loveday) Ofwat has launched a new Major Water Infrastructure Programme combined gated process that brings together RAPID’s oversight of early water infrastructure project development and Ofwat’s major projects team's regulation of later stage project delivery. The new programme contains 30 large-scale water infrastructure projects which will be delivered over the next 15 years. The projects included are RAPID Strategic Resource Options and/or projects meeting the cr

(by Karma Loveday) The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) has published a set of recommendations from the expert group it convened in July 2025, which provides a framework of governance principles to underpin safe water reuse. Specifically, the framework will allow the use of rainwater and greywater for specific applications where drinking water quality is not needed (such as toilet flushing or garden watering), whilst ensuring the drinking water supply is protected from cross

(by Karma Loveday) Businesses and organisations in the Cambridge Water Resource Zone will be able to apply for grants of between £500 and £100,000 for water saving projects between 13 April and 1 May. The £1.6m Water Efficiency Cambridge Fund (weCB) is provided by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and administered by MOSL, and seeks to reconcile the city’s water scarcity with its growth ambitions. The fund is open to businesses, charities and other o

(by Karma Loveday) Today, Water UK and the English water companies launch a national campaign to raise awareness of the unprecedented level of investment being ploughed into water and wastewater infrastructure between 2025 and 2030, and the benefits this will bring. ‘The Big Upgrade’ campaign will use billboard, hoarding, audio, social and digital channels to bring first-of-its-kind cohesion to individual water company communications about their investment programmes. Followi

(by Karma Loveday) Water bills have risen — and will stay high for the foreseeable future — not only to cater for growth, a changing climate, higher standards and ageing assets, but also because it is no longer possible or legitimate to use natural services for nothing. That’s according to a report out last week from the Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) and The UK Water Report. Water in transition: rising costs and the decline of free environmental services

(by Karma Loveday) Ofwat has published guidance for water companies on adhering to the new Fitness and Propriety Rule . It said it would consider each firm’s approach to the guidance when assessing compliance. The Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) has launched a manifesto ahead of the Holyrood elections in May, calling on the next Scottish government to develop a long-term Infrastructure 2050 strategy for Scotland , as part of a package of governance, inves

(by Verity Mitchell) South East Water (SEW), under the spotlight for its many infrastructure and customer service failures, has published an update on its plan to improve resilience. This follows the £22m fine recently announced by Ofwat for historic interruptions to supply between 2020 and 2023. South East Water had tried and failed to prevent the announcement with an injunction. Now it needs to restore regulatory and customer confidence. Its plan involves both engineering w

(by Verity Mitchell) London & Valley Water (L&VW) has published its latest proposals for recapitalising Thames Water. It stressed that these are non-binding and still under discussion between Ofwat, Thames Water itself and other regulators. L&VW has increased the amount of equity it proposes to provide to Thames Water to £3.35bn from £3.15bn. It would obtain up to £6.55bn of new debt: a mix of an initial £3.25bn, and a further committed facility of up to £3.3bn. It proposed a

(by Karma Loveday) Defra has published its first Strategic Policy Statements (SPSs) for the Environment Agency (EA) and Natural England (NE), which include guidance on enacting the ‘constrained discretion’ advised by the Independent Water Commission. The statements are non-statutory but intended to complement statutory objectives and duties for each regulator. Principally, they set out the environment secretary’s expectations on how to deliver on both nature recovery and econ