Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to encourage privatised water companies to increase their financial transparency.

All companies need to submit a single, annual performance report to demonstrate compliance with their separate price controls. Annual performance reports should be accessible to all stakeholders so that they show how the sector is delivering for its customers, environment and wider society. This has been a requirement since 2015-16 and replaced the previous ‘regulatory accounts’.

Ofwat plans to consult early next year on requiring companies to publish full details of remuneration received by directors from the regulated, group and parent companies, including explanations of what the remuneration relates to.

More broadly, the Government will set out its response to the recommendations proposed by the Independent Water Commission, alongside the Government’s wider vision for the future of the water sector, via a White Paper. Following this, we plan to introduce a new water reform bill, bringing forward root and branch reform to secure better outcomes for customers, investors, and the environment.