Government to abolish Ofwat

ODN

Environment Secretary Steve Reed has confirmed that water regulator Ofwat will be abolished as part of an overhaul of a “broken” regulatory system. Mr Reed pledged to strengthen regulation, clean up the country’s rivers and protect the public from soaring water bills. The Environment Secretary said: "A single, powerful regulator responsible for the entire water sector will stand firmly on the side of customers, investors and the environment and prevent the abuses of the past''. Report by Gluszczykm. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn

Transcript

00:00It is clear that the water industry in this country is broken.

00:06Our rivers, lakes and seas are polluted with record levels of sewage.

00:14Water pipes have been left to crumble into disrepair. Soaring water bills are straining

00:22family finances. There are hose pipe bands across the country right now because not a single new

00:30reservoir has been built in over 30 years. The lack of water infrastructure is holding back

00:39economic growth. Water companies have been allowed to profit at the expense of the British people

00:48when they should have been investing to fix our broken water pipes.

00:54A broken regulatory system let them get away with this. Failing customers, investors

01:02and the environment. This government will cut water companies sewage pollution in half within five

01:11years. This is the most ambitious sewage reduction target that any government has ever set.

01:20Over a decade of national renewal we will restore our rivers, lakes and seas to good health.

01:28I agree with Sir John that water regulation has been too weak and too ineffective. Having four

01:36separate regulators with overlapping and conflicting remits has created a merry-go-round that has failed customers

01:45and the environment. Ofwat has failed to protect customers from water companies mismanagement of their

01:54hard-earned money. So today I can announce that the Labour government will abolish Ofwat.

02:02In the biggest overhaul of water regulation in a generation we will bring water functions from four

02:12different regulators into one. A single powerful regulator responsible for the entire water sector.

02:23There are four further recommendations that the government can accept immediately and I will outline

02:28those in parliaments this afternoon.

Category

Transcript

Recommended