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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to make water market structures within the English retail water market more accessible for smaller business customers.

Ofwat, the economic regulator for the water industry, regulates and monitors the operation of the retail business market. They published their first annual report on the market, Open for Business, in July 2018.

It identified that small and medium sized business customers are not yet experiencing the same benefits that larger customers receive from the retail market, and raised a number of issues that could be affecting this.

These included issues that could potentially hinder retailers engaging with certain customer groups, particularly small businesses, and that could also affect customers’ experience of the market.

Ofwat and Market Operator Services Ltd (MOSL), the market operator, have been taking a number of actions to investigate further and address these issues.

Ofwat is currently undertaking a further assessment of the market with a view to publishing their second annual report, likely in July.

My Department has ongoing discussions with Ofwat and MOSL about these issues and will discuss the outcomes of the second annual report with Ofwat in due course.