Wales to get new water regulator

Local TV

After a recent review found Ofwat should be disbanded and replaced, also recommending Wales gets it own independent water regulator. It’s unclear what the exact body will look like, but it will report directly to the Welsh Government.

Transcript

00:00Water in Wales holds a particularly large cultural significance that may not be present

00:08in other parts of the UK, and water companies will soon be held to account by a new separate

00:13body solely responsible for water here in Wales.

00:17The Welsh and UK governments announced the massive shake-up after a recommendation published

00:21earlier this week suggested Ofwatt, the current watercolour regulator for the whole of England

00:26and Wales, be disbanded and replaced. The Cunliffe review, which looked into how water was being

00:32overseen across England and Wales, recommended a Welsh-Pacific body, given the fact that water

00:37is a devolved issue and the responsibility of the Welsh Government, so the new body will

00:42report directly to Cardiff Bay.

00:46Across the review, it found Ofwatt had not been able to properly keep water companies

00:50in check, with an increase in sewage pollution, leakages and rising water bills. In England

00:55it will be replaced by a new, more powerful organisation that will oversee a number of

01:00different fields, but the exact make-up of what will happen in Wales is as yet unclear,

01:05but looks to be similar in England.

01:08There have been talks of natural resources Wales taking over the role, but critics have

01:11said they are already stretched thin in their current roles overseeing environmental issues

01:15across Wales, so some will call for an entirely new body be formed.

01:21Water is an important part of Welsh culture. Issues like Truerrin, where a Welsh village was

01:25flooded to provide drinking water to England are still significant to people across Wales.

01:30Large parts of England rely on Welsh reservoirs to this day, so this latest step of more water

01:35independence could be seen as a more positive move to protect Welsh interests in water.

01:40James P. Watkins reporting for Local TV.

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