 None of the 17 companies which supply England and Wales meet the criteria to be described as 'leading'. Ofwat judges the performance of water companies in England and Wales each year against 'stretching' targets for a five-year period until 2025. If they fail to meet the target, the watchdog restricts the amount of money they can take from customers. Ofwat CEO, David Black, said: 'The targets we set for companies were designed to be stretching – to drive improvements for customers and the environment. 'However, our latest report shows they are falling short, leading to £114m being returned to customers through bill reductions. 'While that may be welcome to billpayers, it is very disappointing news for){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
A dozen water companies must pay out £114m to customers in England and Wales after falling short of standards, a damning watchdog report has revealed.
Seven companies – Dwr Cymru, Southern, Anglian, Bristol, South East, Yorkshire Water and Thames -all failed to meet key 2022-2023 targets on reducing pollution, leakage and supply interruptions.
They have been categorised as ‘lagging behind’ in data published by water regulator Ofwat.
Thames, which serves 15million people across London and the Thames Valley region, has been named as the worst offender, and must return more than £101m to customers.