Ofwat has published the Water Company Performance Report 2022-23. It looks at the performance of the 17 largest water and wastewater companies in England and Wales across a set of key performance and expenditure metrics.

According to Ofwat, “Under-performance by the majority of water and wastewater companies in England and Wales, will mean companies have to return £114m to customers next year”.

The regulator notes that “the information in the report provides transparency for customers, and wider stakeholders, to see how water companies are performing on the issues that matter to them. We set companies stretching performance commitments at the 2019 price review. Three years into the period, we see some areas where companies are responding to the challenge, but in many areas progress is not being made at the pace required to meet performance commitment levels.”

Ofwat has also released a visual summary of the announcement that water companies will need to return £114m to customers for under-performance.

The story is covered by the BBC, which reports that water companies have been ordered to pay back £114m to customers through lower bills after missing key targets.

Ofwat, the industry regulator, said that firms are “falling short” on performance measures around leakages, supply and reducing pollution.

It said that following a review, millions of pounds would be returned to households by cutting bills.

Ofwat said in its assessment that not one company reached the highest measure of performance.

Dŵr Cymru, Southern, Thames, Anglian, Bristol, South East and Yorkshire Water fell into the lowest category of “lagging” and the remaining 10 were rated “average”. None were considered “leading”.

The regulator judges water companies in England and Wales against “stretching” targets set in 2019 for a five-year period.

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