Senedd tells Welsh Water to “up its game”

“Dŵr Cymru seriously needs to up its game,” according to the Welsh Parliament’s Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Committee.

That came in a report undertaken following reports of a decline in Welsh Water’s performance and recent media coverage of illegal spillages of untreated sewage from some of its wastewater treatment works.

Committee chair, Llyr Gruffydd, said Welsh Water’s not-for-profit model had insulated it from some of the criticism facing English water firms, and that climate change pressures are posing difficult challenges. “But with the effects of climate change set to worsen over the coming years, Dŵr Cymru needs to find long-term sustainable solutions that are affordable to customers. It’s a challenging task, but it’s one Dŵr Cymru must rise to.” He added bill rises are inescapable, but that customers will expect to see more for their money.

At present  Gruffydd said, the company is “barely treading water when it comes to delivering for its customers and the environment. Pollution, leakages, drinking water quality and supply interruptions are just some of the issues Dŵr Cymru is struggling with.” But with scrutiny set to continue, “Dŵr Cymru must work harder and faster to return to an industry leader in environmental performance – something it has already demonstrated it’s capable of. It must make strides to rid itself of the unenviable label of ‘lagging’ for overall performance, and sooner rather than later. Anything less simply won’t cut it.”

The committee made 12 recommendations

• Within six months of the publication of this report, Dŵr Cymru should report back to the Committee with an update on progress towards delivery of its service commitment plan required by Ofwat.

• Dŵr Cymru should explain how it is planning against future climate pressures to mitigate the risk of serious pollution incidents such as those which occurred during the drought and high temperatures experienced in 2022.

• Dŵr Cymru should commit to setting a more stretching target for reducing pollution incidents by 2030 than the current target of 24%. It should also commit to an ambition of zero pollution incidents in the shortest time possible, with future targets reflecting any ban on wet wipes containing plastic.

• The Welsh government should seek to introduce a ban on wet wipes containing plastic as soon as possible. It should report back to the Committee on the outcome of the joint consultation on a proposed ban and on the timeframe it is working towards for the introduction of a ban in Wales.

• Dŵr Cymru should provide details of its internal governance arrangements and demonstrate how they are being utilised to hold company executives to account and to drive performance improvements. In particular, Dŵr Cymru should explain the role of the members of Glas Cymru within its governance structure, the response of the members to the recent performance of Dŵr Cymru, and the actions the members are taking to secure improvements.

• Ofwat should clarify whether and how its performance- related pay recovery mechanism applies to Dŵr Cymru, given its ‘not-for-profit’ status.

• Dŵr Cymru should commit to year-on-year improvements on its current 80% alignment of performance-related pay awarded to company executives with overall performance delivered to customers and the environment. It should also commit to an ambition to achieve 100% alignment in the shortest time possible.

• The Welsh government and its key partners, including Dŵr Cymru, should identify ways to effectively communicate Wales’ approach to tackling sewage discharges from storm overflows to improve public understanding of the approach.

• Dŵr Cymru should publish details of its programme of work to tackle sewage discharges from storm overflow covering the short, medium and long-term. This should include ambitious targets for completing ecological assessments and eliminating environmental harm from permitted and unpermitted storm overflows. Dŵr Cymru should commit to publishing reports on progress towards delivery periodically.

• The Welsh government should consider extending NRW’s enforcement powers to enable the regulator to accept environmental undertakings for permit breaches under the Environmental Permitting Regulations (England and Wales) 2016. It should report back to the Committee on the outcome of its consideration.

• NRW should review its regulatory and environment response to the issues at Cardigan Wastewater Treatment works with the aim of learning lessons. It should report back to the Committee on the findings of the review.

• The minister should provide an update on action taken to relieve pressure on the sewage system since the publication of the Committee’s Report on storm overflows in Wales (March 2022). This should include progress towards implementation of the recommendations arising from the review of Sustainable Drainage Systems.