On 8 October 2024, the BBC reported:

This price rise is still being negotiated with water companies, who argue that even higher bills are needed if they are to afford the infrastructure improvements required to tackle some of the issues raised in this performance report.

One of the key targets for companies is to reduce pollution incidents, which were meant to fall by 30% between 2020 and 2025.

Companies had so far achieved a 15% reduction over the last few years. But that improvement has been almost wiped out by the significantly higher number of incidents last year.”

…

The industry has said that although this performance was unacceptable, the record levels were due to heavy rain and increased data collection.
But Ofwat CEO David Black said: “This year’s performance report is stark evidence that money alone will not bring the sustained improvements that customers rightly expect.

“It is clear that companies need to change and that has to start with addressing issues of culture and leadership. Too often we hear that weather, third parties or external factors are blamed for shortcomings.”

Public dissatisfaction with the industry has risen in recent years particularly in relation to pollution.

Following the release of the report, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the environment secretary would be writing to the Chairs and CEOs of every water company laying out the performance improvements that he expects them to make in the coming year.

Read the full article on the BBC website.