UK spending watchdog censures water firms and regulators over sewage failings | Water industry

Water companies were found from failures in improving sewage and excessive spending due to organizational problems, a cursed report issued on monitoring government spending found.

Excessive companies in building infrastructure found infrastructure, with some of these costs adding to consumer bills. Guardian I mentioned this week The Offat and the Independent Water Committee in Water Companies are fulfilled to spend up to 10 times on their sewage work and their tubes such as similar countries.

Bills in England and Wales It rises by 123 pounds sterling On average this year, it will rise more over the next five years, so that companies can repair the infrastructure to manufacture wastewater and stop human waste spills from contaminated rivers and seas. Many water companies I complained To the authority of competition and markets because they want the organizer to allow it to increase bills to further.

Only 1 % of the actions of water companies have been examined to improve environmental performance, such as improving sewage flows, before Environment AgencyThe authors of the NAO report said. They also found that there is no organizer responsible for inspecting the wastewater origins in a proactive to prevent further environmental harm.

The report, which reviewed the three water organizers, Offat, Environmental Agency, Drinking Water Inspections, as well as the Ministry of Food in the Environment and Rural Affairs, also found that the organizers had no good understanding of the infrastructure assets such as leaks and advanced sanitation plays because they do not have a set of reports to evaluate them.

“Given the unprecedented situation facing the sector, Defra and organizers need to act urgently to address the performance of industry and flexibility to ensure that the sector can achieve government goals and achieve value for long -term money for the bills motivation,” said Gareth Davis, President of NAO.

Despite the huge costs of infrastructure, water companies have moved slowly, which means that it is at the current rate, it will take 700 years to replace the entire current water network. The report warned that organizational gaps and lack of urgency about replacing old infrastructure and disruption caused the “high risk” in this sector, which contributes to increasing bills for customers.

It also criticized the lack of a national water supply plan and recommended that Defra understand the costs and the possibility of delivering its plans, as well as the impact they will make on customer bills.

Several issues raised by NAO, including concerns related to weak infrastructure, appeared in the forefront of the future of Themes Water, the country’s largest water company with 16 million customers. The Times, which is exposed to significant financial pressure with nearly 20 billion pounds in debt, needs to secure new investments within months.

Questions about the infrastructure of the Times and the organizational punishment that it can face for its failure has prevailed Winning new money. Meanwhile, OffWAT also rejected her requests to raise bills by up to 59 %, instead Allowing an increase of 35 % over the next five years.

The government established the Independent Water Committee (IWC) last year to investigate how the water industry works and whether the regulations are appropriate for the purpose.

Sir Jeffrey Clifton Brown, Chairman of the General Accounts Committee in the House of Commons, said:

“The consequences of the government’s failure to organize this sector properly land now directly on the bills’ motivations who are left to capture the tab. After years of investment, pollution accidents and water supply issues, it is not surprising that the confidence of the consumer is at the lowest level ever. After not building any tanks in the past thirty years, we now need 10.

“Consumers expect a strong water sector, flexibility, and suitable for the future. Defra and organizers should focus on rebuilding the public’s confidence and ensuring that the sector can attract the long -term investment that it strongly needs.”

“We are aware of the great challenges facing the water industry. For this reason, we will work with Defra and other water organizers to implement the recommendations of the report and update our frameworks to reflect their results,” said a spokesman for the Environment Agency.

“We agree with the Offat NAO recommendations and continue our work in these areas, and contribute to the broader IWC review of the organizational framework. We also look forward to IWC recommendations and work with the other government to hand over to customers and the environment better,” an Offa spokesman added.

“The government has taken urgent measures to repair the water industry – but the change will not happen overnight. We have put water companies under difficult special measures through the historic water law,” said a DEFRA spokesman.

Water UK, which represents water companies, was contacted to comment.