The water sector in England and Wales “urgently needs fixing”, environment secretary Steve Reed has said. The public, environment groups and investors have been asked for their views about how the water sector can be changed by a body set up by the UK government. The head of a new independent commission will invite ideas on how to fix England and Wales’ troubled water industry. Sir John Cunliffe, a former deputy governor of the Bank of England will launch his call for evidence in Manchester on Thursday morning. There has been growing public anger about water company performance amid massive sewage leaks and soaring bills. The commission, chaired by former deputy Bank of England governor Sir Jon Cunliffe, is looking for views on reform. Reed has ruled out nationalisation, saying it would cost up to £100bn, and that waterways would continue to be polluted while private ownership structures were unpicked. Instead, the government wants private investment to upgrade the sewerage system and reservoirs. To get that, regulator Ofwat has allowed the water industry to raise bills, which will go up by an average of £123 a year from April. There were 3.6 million hours of sewage spills into England’s lakes, rivers and seas by water companies in 2023, which is more than double the amount of the previous year. Reed said there are “serious” and “interlocking concerns” with the sector which need “ambitious changes”, and acknowledged that “trust in the system” had “broken down on all sides”. He said there had been “poor decisions and poor performance by companies, regulatory gaps, policy instability and a history of ad-hoc changes that have left an increasingly complex system that is no longer working well for anyone”.
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