Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether dentists working in dental treatment vans will be offered one-off payments of up to £20,000.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We will offer Golden Hellos of £20,000 to up to 240 dentists who join existing National Health Service practices, in areas where recruitment is particularly challenging. Golden Hello payments will be phased over three years, and require a commitment to stay in that area delivering NHS work for at least three years.
We will also be deploying dental vans offering appointments to patients in need, including targeted rural and coastal communities who have the most limited access to dentistry, starting later this year. We are working with NHS England and the integrated care boards on the precise nature of the contracting and payment model for dental vans.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of allocating additional funding for volunteer led community transport schemes.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department makes available over £3 million each year to community transport operators through the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG), supporting them to continue delivering inclusive and accessible transport across the country.
An uplift of 60% has been added to BSOG claims for community transport operators until 31 March 2025. This means operators will receive £1.60 for every £1 claimed, reflecting the increased costs faced by the sector.
We also encourage Local Transport Authorities to engage with community transport operators when preparing their Bus Service Improvement Plans which are vital in setting out an areas’ long term plans for bus services and how they will be improved.
The bus fare cap, only available in England, has proven popular with bus passengers in communities across England, particularly in rural and non-metropolitan areas, where our statistics show the overall price of bus fares between September 2022 and September 2023 dropped by almost 11%.
Our £20 million Rural Mobility Fund (RMF) in England, also devolved, is supporting 16 innovative, demand-led minibus trials in rural and suburban areas across 16 local authorities in England. These pilots are exploring whether Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) can serve these communities more effectively than traditional public transport solutions alone.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which local authorities (a) charged for collection of garden waste and b) provided a free garden waste service in 2023/24.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs does not hold this data.
Under section 45(3) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 waste collection authorities are permitted to charge a reasonable amount for the collection of garden waste.
Local Authorities are best placed to determine the effective delivery of local services.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage (a) schools, (b) prisons and (c) hospitals to serve British-caught fish.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has consulted on changes to the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services (GBSF), including increasing the sourcing of local and sustainable food. The consultation sought views on sourcing, where possible, a diverse range of seasonally available seafood species from locally caught or produced sources. As the Government response to the consultation has not yet been published, it is too soon to pre-empt any specific findings.
We have also now appointed an independent advisor to support the Government’s ongoing work to improve food procurement in the public sector and make the system more accessible to small- and medium-sized businesses and, subject to domestic and international legal obligations, explore the benefits of and steps to getting more local-caught fish into schools, prisons and hospitals.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the average distance people travel to access an NHS dentist in (a) North Shropshire constituency and (b) the UK.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We want to make sure that everyone needing a National Health Service dentist can access one. Our plan to recover and reform NHS dentistry will make dental services faster, simpler, and fairer for patients, and will fund approximately 2.5 million additional appointments, or more than 1.5 million additional courses of dental treatment. This is especially important for those who live in rural or coastal communities, where we know access can be particularly challenging.
Our plan includes a new Golden Hello scheme for dentists who want to move to those areas which persistently struggle to attract dentists into NHS work. A Golden Hello of £20,000 will be offered per dentist, for a total of up to 240 dentists.
There are other measures in our Dentistry Recovery Plan which will help to improve access across all areas of the country. The new patient premium is designed to support dentists to see patients who may not have seen an NHS dentist for some time, and is offered in recognition of the additional time that may be needed for practices to assess, stabilise, and manage patients’ oral health needs. We will also raise the minimum Units of Dental Activity rate from £23 to £28, supporting practices across the country to deliver more NHS care. We do not hold data on the average distance people travel to access an NHS dentist.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps her Department has taken to support access to dentists in (a) Penrith and The Border constituency and (b) England.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We want to make sure that everyone needing a National Health Service dentist can access one. Our plan to recover and reform NHS dentistry in England will make dental services faster, simpler, and fairer for patients and will fund approximately 2.5 million additional appointments, or more than 1.5 million additional courses of dental treatment. This is especially important for those who live in rural or coastal communities where we know access can be particularly challenging.
Our plan includes a new Golden Hello scheme for dentists who want to move to those areas which persistently struggle to attract dentists into NHS work. A Golden Hello of £20,000 will be offered per dentist, for a total of up to 240 dentists.
There are other measures in our Dentistry Recovery Plan which will help to improve access across all areas of the country. The new patient premium is designed to support dentists to see patients who may not have seen an NHS dentist for some time, and is offered in recognition of the additional time that may be needed for practices to assess, stabilise, and manage patients’ oral health needs. We will also raise the minimum Unit of Dental Activity rate from £23 to £28, supporting practices across the country to deliver more NHS care.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that patients affected by unexpected closures of NHS dental practices can still access dental care.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We want to make sure that everyone needing a National Health Service dentist can access one. Our plan to recover and reform NHS dentistry will make dental services faster, simpler, and fairer for patients and will fund approximately 2.5 million additional appointments, or more than 1.5 million additional courses of dental treatment. This is especially important for those who live in rural or coastal communities where we know access can be particularly challenging.
Our plan includes a new Golden Hello scheme for dentists who want to move to those areas which persistently struggle to attract dentists into NHS work. A Golden Hello of £20,000 will be offered per dentist, for a total of up to 240 dentists.
There are other measures in our Dentistry Recovery Plan which will help to improve access across all areas of the country. The new patient premium is designed to support dentists to see patients who may not have seen an NHS dentist for some time, and is offered in recognition of the additional time that may be needed for practices to assess, stabilise, and manage patients’ oral health needs. We will also raise the minimum Units of Dental Activity rate from £23 to £28 supporting practices across the country to deliver more NHS care.
Patients unable to access an urgent dental appointment directly through an NHS dental practice are advised to contact NHS 111 for assistance. NHS dentists are now required to update their NHS website profiles regularly, at least every 90 days, to ensure patients have access to up-to-date information on where they can access care.
Asked by: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the (1) actual, and (2) projected, aid contributions to individual countries in South Asia, broken down by category of project.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We do not have a breakdown by project category of future spend. Programme allocations are continually reviewed to respond to changing global needs, including humanitarian crises, fluctuations in GNI and other ODA allocation decisions.
We do have information on project category spend for previous calendar years which is published in the statistics on international development. This data is based on calendar year not financial year and covers the whole of HMG. Please see below data based on 2022, the last available calendar year.
2022 | 2022 Total | ||||||||
Row Labels | Afghanistan | Bangladesh | Bhutan | India | Maldives | Nepal | Pakistan | Sri Lanka | |
Administrative costs (non-sector allocable) | £273,832 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £150,105 | £0 | £423,938 |
Advanced technical and managerial training | £0 | £0 | £0 | -£54,390 | £0 | -£2,535 | £0 | £0 | -£56,924 |
Agricultural development | £1,292,411 | £0 | £0 | £47,020 | £0 | £0 | -£1,361,746 | £0 | -£22,316 |
Agricultural policy and administrative management | £0 | £2,809 | £0 | -£152 | £0 | £0 | £0 | -£253,566 | -£250,909 |
Agricultural research | £0 | £0 | £0 | £240,948 | £0 | £0 | £7,715 | £0 | £248,663 |
Agricultural services | £0 | £0 | £0 | -£2,274,286 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | -£2,274,286 |
Anti-corruption organisations and institutions | £2,518,313 | £576,402 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £175,805 | £144,143 | £0 | £3,414,663 |
Basic drinking water supply | £0 | £350,000 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £219,574 | £0 | £0 | £569,574 |
Basic drinking water supply and basic sanitation | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £639,497 | -£1,361,746 | £0 | -£722,250 |
Basic health care | £707,157 | £250,000 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £2,994,645 | £387,457 | £0 | £4,339,258 |
Basic life skills for adults | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £258,611 | £0 | £0 | £258,611 |
Basic nutrition | £0 | £712,997 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £14,770 | £0 | £0 | £727,767 |
Basic sanitation | £0 | £350,000 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £37,522 | -£2,723,493 | £0 | -£2,335,971 |
Biodiversity | £0 | £22,328 | £0 | £165,389 | £74,068 | £961,707 | £37,573 | £67,842 | £1,328,907 |
Business development services | £0 | £0 | £0 | £96,736 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £96,736 |
Business policy and administration | £0 | £0 | £0 | £565,783 | £0 | £0 | £437,513 | £0 | £1,003,296 |
Civilian peace-building, conflict prevention and resolution | £4,130,547 | £1,981,030 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £4,399 | £2,225,242 | £1,355,856 | £9,697,073 |
Communications policy and administrative management | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £127,531 | £0 | £44,422 | £0 | £171,953 |
COVID-19 control | £0 | £23,407 | £0 | £802,602 | £0 | £0 | £5,949 | £0 | £831,958 |
Culture | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £61,341 | £0 | £61,341 |
Culture and recreation | £0 | £0 | £0 | -£22,408 | £0 | £0 | £85,158 | £0 | £62,750 |
Decentralisation and support to subnational government | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £138,288 | £2,475,959 | £0 | £0 | £2,614,248 |
Democratic participation and civil society | £250,000 | £1,394,795 | £0 | £0 | £57,419 | £973,571 | £443,327 | £0 | £3,119,111 |
Domestic revenue mobilisation | £0 | -£728,536 | £0 | £193,016 | £0 | £117,203 | £1,059,571 | £0 | £641,254 |
Education and training in water supply and sanitation | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £12,737 | £0 | £0 | £12,737 |
Education facilities and training | £0 | £115,830 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £1,464,741 | £0 | £1,580,571 |
Education policy and administrative management | £0 | £577,278 | £0 | £97,983 | £0 | £0 | £3,077,249 | £0 | £3,752,510 |
Educational research | £0 | £361,000 | £0 | -£266,036 | £0 | £188,423 | £594,639 | £0 | £878,026 |
Elections | £0 | £12,027 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £900 | £0 | £12,927 |
Electric mobility infrastructures | £0 | £0 | £0 | £70,000 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £70,000 |
Electric power transmission and distribution (centralised grids) | £0 | £0 | £0 | £68,700 | £0 | £173,312 | £0 | £0 | £242,012 |
Emergency food assistance | £128,041,086 | £8,635,594 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £136,676,679 |
Employment creation | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | -£255,005 | £0 | £0 | -£255,005 |
Ending violence against women and girls | £21,461,697 | £1,009,135 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £728,846 | £3,068,578 | £0 | £26,268,255 |
Energy generation, renewable sources - multiple technologies | £0 | £0 | £0 | -£889,376 | £0 | £1,200,806 | £0 | £0 | £311,430 |
Energy policy and administrative management | £0 | £50,553 | £0 | £158,146 | £0 | £368,287 | £0 | £0 | £576,985 |
Energy research | £0 | £0 | £0 | £23,688 | £0 | £147,098 | £0 | £0 | £170,786 |
Energy sector policy, planning and administration | £0 | £0 | £0 | £1,479,122 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £1,479,122 |
Environmental education/training | £0 | £0 | £48,668 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £48,668 |
Environmental policy and administrative management | £635,676 | £6,904,699 | £0 | £24,064,426 | £0 | £4,380,855 | £5,812,804 | £0 | £41,798,459 |
Environmental research | £0 | £120,723 | £0 | £3,082,518 | £0 | £863,732 | £0 | £0 | £4,066,974 |
Facilitation of orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility | £0 | £102,902 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £234,377 | £0 | £0 | £337,279 |
Family planning | £265,080 | £565,862 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £102,500 | £3,660,244 | £0 | £4,593,686 |
Financial policy and administrative management | £0 | £0 | £0 | £507,690 | £0 | £0 | £301,387 | £0 | £809,077 |
Formal sector financial intermediaries | £0 | £0 | £0 | £49,665 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £49,665 |
Health education | £338,898 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £219,770 | £0 | £0 | £558,668 |
Health personnel development | £0 | £273,503 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £273,503 |
Health policy and administrative management | £0 | £1,760,392 | £0 | £3,122,660 | £0 | £2,298,530 | £343,452 | £0 | £7,525,034 |
Higher education | £911,301 | £649,203 | £172,288 | £2,693,479 | £214,955 | £434,329 | £1,992,063 | £395,690 | £7,463,308 |
Human rights | £0 | £1,775,384 | £0 | £0 | £183,646 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £1,959,030 |
Immediate post-emergency reconstruction and rehabilitation | £4,081,072 | £2,602,056 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £1,382,031 | £12 | £0 | £8,065,171 |
Industrial development | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £317,516 | £0 | £0 | £317,516 |
Industrial policy and administrative management | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £1,102,394 | £0 | £0 | £1,102,394 |
Infectious disease control | £0 | £344,911 | £0 | £106,589 | £0 | £721,591 | £3,657 | £0 | £1,176,748 |
Informal/semi-formal financial intermediaries | £1,133,493 | £0 | £0 | £65,012 | £0 | £129,305 | £0 | £0 | £1,327,810 |
Information and communication technology (ICT) | £0 | £277,978 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £277,978 |
Legal and judicial development | £0 | £562,328 | £0 | £0 | £207,433 | £219,762 | £1,059,545 | £23,435 | £2,072,502 |
Legislatures and political parties | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £86,128 | £28,936 | £0 | £0 | £115,064 |
Livestock | £1,133,493 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £1,133,493 |
Low-cost housing | £0 | £0 | £0 | £7,590 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £7,590 |
Material relief assistance and services | £133,863,525 | £7,210,063 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £367,000 | £13,753,266 | £1,840,000 | £157,033,854 |
Media and free flow of information | £0 | £27,380 | £0 | £0 | £85,021 | £201,771 | £0 | £0 | £314,172 |
Medical research | £0 | £349,577 | £0 | £3,227,794 | £0 | £153,028 | £1,625,422 | £0 | £5,355,821 |
Medical services | £0 | £0 | £0 | £19,694 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £19,694 |
Monetary institutions | £0 | £0 | £0 | -£4,122,509 | £0 | £367,746 | £0 | £0 | -£3,754,763 |
Multi-hazard response preparedness | £0 | £3,119,353 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £2,296,059 | -£346,074 | £0 | £5,069,339 |
Multisector aid | £10,000,000 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £10,000,000 |
Multisector education/training | £179,070 | £2,964,257 | £0 | £10,757,244 | £0 | £1,082,590 | £5,089,541 | £1,148,813 | £21,221,516 |
Participation in international peacekeeping operations | -£26,486,939 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | -£26,486,939 |
Personnel development for population and reproductive health | £0 | £628,071 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £628,071 |
Population policy and administrative management | £0 | £63,206 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £49,325 | £159,552 | £0 | £272,083 |
Primary education | £677,795 | £1,749,487 | £0 | £96,754 | £0 | £0 | £1,368,615 | £0 | £3,892,652 |
Privatisation | £4,424 | £0 | £0 | £62,081 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £66,505 |
Public finance management (PFM) | £0 | -£4,128,373 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £820,701 | £1,854,023 | £0 | -£1,453,650 |
Public sector policy and administrative management | £34,999 | £576,042 | £0 | £859,780 | £0 | £789,046 | £91,270 | £0 | £2,351,137 |
Relief co-ordination and support services | £59,853,084 | £2,072,828 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £6,022,939 | £0 | £67,948,851 |
Removal of land mines and explosive remnants of war | £5,000,000 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £5,000,000 |
Reproductive health care | £1,369,857 | £1,435,386 | £0 | £52,362 | £0 | £490,359 | £1,851,776 | £0 | £5,199,740 |
Research/scientific institutions | £378,625 | £1,287,873 | -£72,577 | £740,328 | £0 | £1,049,080 | £908,916 | £2,760 | £4,295,005 |
Road transport | £0 | £0 | £0 | -£1,137,143 | £0 | £2,256,726 | £1,800 | £0 | £1,121,383 |
Rural development | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £202,165 | £0 | £0 | £202,165 |
Security system management and reform | £0 | £43,536 | £0 | £0 | £458,799 | £69,946 | £0 | £0 | £572,281 |
Site preservation | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) development | £5,530 | £0 | £0 | £1,245,753 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £1,251,283 |
Social Protection | £0 | £1,351,346 | £0 | £39,879 | £0 | -£345,949 | £226,615 | £0 | £1,271,891 |
Solar energy for centralised grids | £0 | £0 | £0 | £117,792 | £0 | £648,694 | £0 | £0 | £766,486 |
Statistical capacity building | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £353,100 | £0 | £0 | £353,100 |
Teacher training | £0 | £508,061 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £663,698 | £0 | £1,171,759 |
Trade facilitation | £5,530 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £133,722 | £0 | £139,252 |
Trade policy and administrative management | £6,637 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £203,275 | £0 | £209,912 |
Transport policy and administrative management | £0 | £0 | £0 | £69,054 | £0 | £128,892 | £1,200 | £0 | £199,146 |
Tuberculosis control | £0 | £29,991 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £29,991 |
Upper Secondary Education (modified and includes data from 11322) | £338,898 | £897,000 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £985,293 | £0 | £2,221,190 |
Urban development | £0 | £0 | £0 | £542,146 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £542,146 |
Urban development and management | £0 | £1,050,000 | £0 | £78,000 | £0 | £695,269 | £781,523 | £0 | £2,604,792 |
Vocational training | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £646,527 | £0 | £0 | £646,527 |
Waste management/disposal | £0 | £0 | £0 | £14,424 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £14,424 |
Water resources conservation (including data collection) | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £219,574 | £0 | £0 | £219,574 |
Water sector policy and administrative management | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £31,842 | £0 | £0 | £31,842 |
Water supply - large systems | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £737,655 | £0 | £0 | £737,655 |
Water supply and sanitation - large systems | £0 | £0 | £0 | -£1,137,143 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | -£1,137,143 |
Women's rights organisations and movements, and government institutions | £0 | £1,800,998 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £59,406 | £1,444,631 | £0 | £3,305,036 |
Grand Total | £352,405,092 | £54,672,670 | £148,379 | £45,728,404 | £1,633,288 | £37,241,408 | £57,842,803 | £4,580,830 | £554,252,874 |
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the availability of NHS dentistry.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
18.1 million adults were seen by a National Health Service dentist in the 24 months up to 30 June 2023, an increase of 1.7 million, or 10%, when compared to the previous year. 6.4 million children were seen by an NHS dentist in the 12 months up to 30 June 2023, an increase of 800,000, or 14%, when compared to the previous year. Our plan to recover and reform NHS Dentistry will make dental services faster, simpler, and fairer for patients, and will fund around 2.5 million additional appointments, or more than 1.5 million additional courses of dental treatment.
Our plan sets out a number of actions which will improve access for patients, by helping the sector to recover activity more quickly, including the introduction of a New Patient Payment Premium of up to £50 for each new patient. This is on top of the funding dental practices already receive for delivering that care. We will further incentivise dentists to do more NHS work by raising the minimum Units of Dental Activity rate to £28. As an additional part of the plan, we will launch a new Golden Hello scheme for dentists who want to move to those areas which persistently struggle to attract dentists into NHS work. We will also deploy dental vans offering appointments to patients in targeted rural and coastal communities who have the most limited access to dentistry, starting later this year.
NHS dentists are now required to update their NHS website profiles at least every 90 days to ensure patients have access to up-to-date information on where they can access care. From 1 April 2023, responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. ICBs are responsible for having local processes in place to identify areas of need and determine the priorities for investment.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the financial implications for her policies of trends in the level of debt acquired by water companies.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Water companies are allowed to raise debt to fund the delivery of their services.
Ofwat, as the independent economic regulator, assesses and monitors the financial resilience of each company, including levels of debt, on an individual and ongoing basis and challenges companies where they identify this is needed.
Over recent years, as investment requirements have risen, Ofwat has taken further steps to strengthen the financial resilience of companies. This includes increasing its financial monitoring and improving levels of reporting transparency. As part of this work, Ofwat produces an annual ‘Monitoring Financial Resilience Report’ to provide a publicly available assessment of the financial resilience of each water company.