Ofwat to be abolished as ministers explore creating new water regulator
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jul/18/ofwat-to-be-abolished-as-ministers-explore-creating-new-water-regulator
Posted by acrimoniousone
Ofwat to be abolished as ministers explore creating new water regulator
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jul/18/ofwat-to-be-abolished-as-ministers-explore-creating-new-water-regulator
Posted by acrimoniousone
27 Comments
I think at this point i’d be happy to pay a little more if the govt just said forget it we’ll nationalise it all. Compulsory purchase powers, pay back the shareholders whatever little its worth and lets just crack on as a nation.
Yes, times are tough at the moment, i bloody well know this but Water is the lifeblood of civilization and it is a national emergency to see what is going on with it.
“It will be totally different regulator. We will call it Ofwat2.”
This seems like good news to me. We know OFWAT are in the water board’s pockets. We need an actual independent body who can’t be bought. Is such a thing possible though? We like to think that there is a limit to human greed, but the behaviour of the current water board executives would suggest the exact opposite. We can but dream, people.
And what will this do that the old one failed to do?
Nationalise the water industry. Let the companies collapse, take control for a nominal fee (£1), transfer their debts to a separate company and try and get rid of that in some way.
Privatisation has failed. It’s the biggest con trick ever pulled on the public.
Obviously whether this is a good thing or not depends on what replaces it. I fear a new regulator will end up with even fewer teeth than the current one.
The Cunliffe review that this is all based on wasn’t even allowed to consider the possibility of renationalising the system. It’s hard to have confidence in its recommendations when it was forced to rule out some things without even exploring them.
*”Insiders at Ofwat have expressed concern that scrapping the regulator without a clear plan for the future could add to uncertainty at a sensitive time for investment”*
*”A senior Whitehall source said they feared the politicisation of regulatory changes could make it harder to attract investment for the water industry in the short and medium term.”*
I don’t see how Oftwat 2 will be better if people in charge still fundamentally think of water as a commodity industry which ought to ‘attract investment’. surely that’s the problem to solve…
It would be good to see the level of detail behind this. There is a hint that a joined-up regulator would be better than the three we have now (OFWAT, Environment agency, DWI), but it would also be nice to see what the review says about the powers objectives and resourcing that a regulator would need in order to do its job properly.
The answer to the water problem is easy, the exact same system as we have but the shareholders can only be people who live in the area, lots of Norwegian shipbuilders and global coops, etc use a similar system. That way each one retains the advantages in efficency of a private organisation but is beholden to shareholders who have a stake in the product being delivered, this should create the best outcomes for everyone.
“we’re going to abolish the under performing regulator and *think about* a new one” that.. that doesn’t seem like an improvement…
Everyone currently in Ofwat must not be allowed anywhere near whatever new body they set up. They’re clearly in cahoots with the water industry. You need independent, third party figures who have no ties who can be objective.
I’ll take the job…. Cuts to exec pay,zero bonuses,zero dumping of shit in our seas and waterways,and investment in a VICTORIAN sewerage system….ultimately leading to nationalisation…. That’s on day one…. Fergal sharkey will also be added to the team ASAP…
The main point of British ‘regulators’ and oversight ‘authority’s’ is to act as a barrier between corporation’s and their corporate leaders and a bog standard judge and jury criminal trial imo.
What’re the odds the same goons will be hired again? We need more control of our resources.
They need to make sure they do not hire the existing Ofwat managers to any new regulator because that is what happened when after the banking crisis the Financial Services Authority was abolished and replaced by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Water should never have been privatised in the first place it was a shitty decision when it was done and it is still is.
It’s taking valuable resources away from the public and putting it into private hands for the benefit of a minority.
Fuck em and take it back
Stop paying the subsidiaries. Let them collapse. Public ownership for £1. Profits start flowing into infrastructure again.
The recent shitstorm(figurative) about shitstorms(literal) is down to the environment agency wanting to know what was being dumped into their rivers about 10 years ago.
Last few years the data has got better. There’s no reason to think the outflows are any worse than before since England only got full coverage for 2024.
Scotland probably isn’t as bad because barely anyone lives in most of it, but the outflows are barely monitored.
Why OfWat seemingly didn’t give a damn about checking the industry it was regulating is probably why it should be binned.
Now do the same with Ofcom, we need regulators with bite.
“A regulator that has never been prepared to acknowledge its role at the epicentre of greed, corruption and incompetence is just as guilty as any water company of polluting rivers and exploiting customers.”
My favourite quote of the year so far. Ending OFWAT is a start, but doesn’t go far enough. These people need to be investigated and jailed. Ultimately, corruption is treason, and should be treated as such. This applies to company board members as well.
Or….OOOORRRRRR ….. crazy idea… NATIONALISE CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Ofwat is dead. Long live the WatOf. Hear ye, hear ye….
Dicking around the sidelines means they’ve no intention of solving the problem.
The same pals will get the same jobs doing fuck all.
Remember there’s always the chance for the new one to be worse. And it’s interesting timing what with the forced smart water meters and surge pricing plans.
Also nobody can claim it’s good news until we read the details of what the new regulator will be, in the legal text.
We need to adopt the Welsh not for profit system country wide
While they’re at it, they could make new regulators for the rest of services that are all in bed with the Corporations 👌
Ofgem is another regulator not fit for purpose. It panders to the energy companies, not the consumers, leading to the energy companies being unfair to their consumers.
We don’t need another water regulator , we need an authority with teeth & the nerve to bring the fat cats that run this business to book by jailing & fining them as necessary for pollution & failure to repair & maintain infrastructure whilst pocketing large bonuses , especially from government loans.