Wednesday 14:41
The Consumer Council for Water said today () that it had major concerns over the rising number of water companies investigated by Ofwat for misreporting of service performance information, as highlighted in the regulator's Levels of Service report last week.
Three Valleys Water, which serves areas to the north of London, is now the fourth water company (out of 23) to be investigated for misreporting data to Ofwat.
An internal investigation and consequent independent inquiry was commissioned by Three Valleys Water after the new Managing Director discovered inconsistencies. The investigation has uncovered misreporting of their level of performance in relation to the frequency of meter readings over several years, which they have supplied to the regulator.
Other water companies previously investigated for misreporting figures to Ofwat are: Severn Trent Water, Southern Water and Thames Water. Combined these companies provide service to nearly half of customers (48%) in England and Wales.
Dame Yve Buckland, National Chair of the Consumer Council for Water, said:
"This is very serious as it undermines customer confidence and has an impact on the reputation of the whole water industry.
"The accumulation of cases raises the need to question the accuracy of information being submitted to Ofwat by water companies, on which important regulatory decisions are made.
"Ofwat collects these figures and uses them to compare water company performance and ultimately to set price levels. If this misreporting has adversely affected customers' bills then they must receive appropriate compensation."
More generally, the Consumer Council for Water welcomes the fact that Ofwat is looking at their current water company performance criteria to see how they can improve quality of customer service in the industry.
While Ofwat's scoring system has been has been sufficient in the past, it is now out of date and does not place enough emphasis on customer service.
Yve Buckland said: "Customers are losing out because there are no real incentives for water companies to really focus on the quality of service they provide on a daily basis.
"The absence of a competitive environment in the industry creates a situation where the majority of customers have no choice over their supplier, and it is too easy for water companies to continue to deliver mediocre standards of service.
"Some water companies, for example Yorkshire Water, do set themselves challenging targets to improve the customer experience of their service, but they are the exception."
Ofwat's Levels of Service report highlighted that Severn Trent, Southern and South East Water provided the lowest standard of service, confirming the Consumer Council for Water's own complaint statistics.
Ends
Notes for editors
1.The Consumer Council for Water represents consumers in England and Wales.
2.The Consumer Council for Water is the statutory water consumer body, and operates as a non-departmental public body reporting to the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Welsh Assembly Government. It has a committee for Wales, and at local level it is supported by nine regional committees in England.
3.The national website is http://www.ccwater.org.uk.
The Consumer Council for Water Victoria Square House, Victoria Square, Birmingham B2 4AJ
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