“Companies have to deliver not only the infrastructure but a step-change in performance too"

With water customers facing higher costs and mounting concerns about service and environmental performance, we speak with Mike about CCW’s role, the challenges ahead, and what must change to build a more customer-focused and transparent water sector in England and Wales.

Could you share a bit about your background and what your role at the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) involves?

You could say I’ve been immersed in the world of water for much of my career but I am actually a physicist by training. The first decade of my career was spent at the Met Office where my work was largely focussed on weather and climate models. This led to my first move into the water sector as Ofwat’s Head of Climate Change. I was responsible for writing the regulator’s first policy statement on the topic. After four years with Ofwat, I moved to Severn Trent Water where I led its work on climate change and resilience – themes which of course remain central to the current challenges facing the water sector.

I’ve been at CCW since 2017 and have relished the opportunity to try and increase our influence – and crucially that of consumers - within the water sector and government. To begin with, I was responsible for developing CCW’s policy and research work but after an initial spell as interim CEO, I was delighted to take on the role permanently last October. My role is wide-ranging but at its core is the challenge of making sure CCW’s work is aligned with the evolving views and priorities of consumers in England and Wales. It’s also about ensuring CCW establishes itself as an organisation which is renowned for delivering excellence for customers and keeping our promises to them. The very things we expect from water companies.

With the sector under unprecedented scrutiny around its performance and future, a big part of my role is to ensure the voice of the consumer is heard and acted on – not drowned out by competing voices and agendas.

We have a golden opportunity to build a better and more trusted water sector which puts consumers and the environment first. Drawing upon CCW’s large body of evidence and insights, my role is to provide leadership and strategic direction to achieve this goal.

Can you give us an overview of the Consumer Council for Water’s functions and how it works to represent water and sewerage customers across England and Wales?

CCW is the independent voice for all water and sewerage consumers across England and Wales. We’re a statutory body and a core function of our work is providing advice and information to people on the services they receive, while also investigating complaints if a customer has been unable to resolve an issue with their water company or water retailer.

We bring about change through campaigning or directly influencing policymakers and decision-makers across the sector and within the government

Last year alone, we supported consumers with more than 10,700 complaints and helped to secure more than £1 million in financial redress to aggrieved household and business customers. But our work is so much wider than just resolving complaints and providing advice to consumers on important issues such as how to save money on their bill. As well as publicly holding water companies to account for their performance on the things that matter most to people, we also provide a strong and increasingly influential voice for consumers to drive positive change. This is all underpinned by our extensive body of research and the expertise and insight we gather through dealing with thousands of customer complaints.

We bring about change through our successful campaigning or directly influencing policymakers and key decision-makers across the sector and within government. We’re seeing this work bearing fruit, particularly with the current UK government which is making a raft of changes on the back of our recommendations.A great example of this is the improvements to the Guaranteed Standards Scheme. The government has moved at pace to implement and build on many of the recommendations to improve service standards and automatic payments which we had proposed, bringing benefits to all water consumers.

With water bills in England and Wales set to rise in April, how is CCW addressing water poverty? What specific initiatives do you believe are most effective in supporting vulnerable households?

Ending water poverty has been one of our leading strategic priorities right since we published our Independent Review of Water Affordability back in 2021. There are few things more essential in life than water and we believe everyone should be able to afford this service.

Our 2021 review provided a blueprint for change through a series of measures water companies could take to improve support. Many of these have already been implemented but the most important one has yet to be realised. We recommended the implementation of a single social tariff scheme which would lift everyone out of water poverty across England and Wales. This would replace the postcode lottery of support created by existing water company social tariffs and offer fair and consistent help to those who cannot afford their water bill. Funding this scheme through a central pot would allow support to flow to where it is most needed and not be constrained within regions.

The case for a single social tariff has never been more pressing or compelling given the unprecedented increases to water bills. The good news is recent legislative changes have cleared the way to introduce a universal scheme and we believe the political and collective will for change is there. We’ve also made recommendations to the government to improve the support provided through WaterSure, which caps the bills of metered low-income households with high essential water use needs due to a medical condition or family size.

The case for a single social tariff has never been more pressing or compelling given the unprecedented increases to water bills

In the meantime, we continue to lead efforts to promote existing water company support through our extensive media work and website, which is packed full of advice and tools to help people save money or access help. Existing social tariff schemes are lowering the bills of more than 1.6 million households so – while support does need to be improved - it’s vital we do everything we can to raise awareness of this assistance.

Switching to a water meter also remains a quick and easy way for some households to make substantial savings. Our popular water meter calculator makes it easy for people to see if they might save by switching. For those already in arrears, companies’ debt-matching schemes can really help people clear their debt much more quickly.

Customers may feel they’re paying more without seeing corresponding improvements in service. How can the industry ensure that rising water bills deliver tangible benefits for consumers?

Although many households are understandably worried about the steep bill rises, our research shows there is broad support for the investment plans these increases will help to fund. This support will start to seep away though if people do not see and experience a difference in their own lives over the next five years – whether that’s enjoying cleaner rivers or getting the support they need if they hit hard times.

What steps are necessary to foster a more customer-focused culture within the UK water industry, and how might this shift influence public perception and trust?

Our research shows there is broad customer support for the investment plans that water bill increases will help to fund

The first thing to say is there is no silver bullet to repairing trust in the sector. It will take a series of changes, time and a unified effort by everyone in the water sector to transform it. We’re already doing a lot of work with water companies in this space and a key thing to stress is that customers have to become central to how the business thinks, acts and the decisions it makes. This connection has to be reflected in behaviours and embedded in processes, systems and policies and be consistently demonstrated across leadership and management teams.

We often see bold and impressive brand statements in the water industry but the behaviours and actions of companies do not always match these promises. From the Board down, water companies need to think carefully about whether each decision they make or action they take will build customer trust or erode it.

Companies also need to become better connected with their customers and actively listen to the sentiment being shared. People need to feel their water company has genuine empathy for the people it serves - that will drive a stronger emotional connection. Trust is also earned by being open and transparent with customers and taking ownership when things go wrong.

Public distrust of water companies has grown due to environmental issues like storm overflows. What actions are needed to improve environmental performance and rebuild public confidence in the sector?

One of the first things some water companies need to do is read the room and understand the strength of public anger and upset over their environmental performance. Time and again we see some companies blaming regulators – blaming past price settlements or blaming the weather for their failures. This just compounds people’s frustration. People don’t want excuses – they want action and to see the health of our rivers, lakes and seas improving. We know from our research only around a third of customers trust water companies to protect the environment. Changing that perception is going to be pivotal to the industry winning back customers’ trust and confidence.

The latest price settlement will unlock unprecedented levels of investment and the opportunity for companies to end the harm caused to the environment by storm overflows. To do that though companies have to deliver not only the infrastructure but the step-change in performance too. In the past, we’ve seen some water companies struggle to deliver far less ambitious investment programmes. The stakes this time have never been higher as this investment is going to hit customers hard in the pocket. Investors want a return but customers want one too for the money they’re investing through much higher bills.

Investment will take time to deliver results so companies need to be really clear from the outset when people can expect to see things improve and what this will look like. Performance improvements need to come hand in hand with far greater transparency from the water sector. We’re already seeing some progress in this area with the launch of a real-time storm overflow map but this must be the springboard for even greater openness over performance. It should be straightforward for customers to find out how their water company is performing all year round – not just when they are put on the naughty step by a regulator’s report.

The practice of company executives being rewarded for failure also needs to end. The recently passed Water (Special Measures) Act has empowered Ofwat to ban bonuses where companies have not delivered to customers or the environment. But company bosses shouldn’t wait for Ofwat to step in when things go wrong. They should get on the front foot, own their failures and decline any financial rewards for poor performance.

Transparency is often highlighted as the foundation of good customer service. How can water companies improve communication with customers, particularly when addressing sensitive issues or public concerns?

We know that communication from water companies can be a real frustration for customers with around one in four people describing it as poor. In many instances, people only ever recall hearing from their water company when they receive their bill. Given how central water is to all our lives and the level of scrutiny the sector is under, that has to change.

One of the most important things companies can do is not go into hiding when it comes to confronting difficult issues – whether that’s explaining why customers are facing such large bill rises or dealing with matters around executive pay, pollution or service failures. The more difficult the issue the harder companies should try to reach out to their customers to explain what they are doing to improve or address an issue of public concern.

Digitalisation is transforming many industries — what role do you see digital tools and technologies playing in improving customer experience within the water sector?

There is tremendous scope for digital tools and technologies to improve customers’ experiences of the sector, particularly within the area of affordability and vulnerability.

There is tremendous scope for digital technologies to improve customers’ experiences, particularly within affordability and vulnerability

We’re expecting to see more widespread use of monitoring sentiment during calls and in written customer communication with the potential to identify ‘unspoken needs’ such as financial support or the provision of bottled water during supply disruptions.The growing presence of smart meters in water should also provide customers – through apps or online portals – with clear and helpful insights on their water use, empowering them to save water and money.

And then there are the opportunities which flow out of Artificial Intelligence – whether that’s quickly identifying financial vulnerability through payment patterns or spotting and intercepting potential billing problems before they land on customers’ doormats.

How is CCW working with businesses and communities to encourage water conservation and reduce sewer misuse, and what positive outcomes have resulted from these efforts?

We’ve been working with a number of water companies on our Leading the Way programme which centres around sharing what has worked well during campaigns when using behavioural science. These campaigns are helping customers make the connection between their water use and the effect it has on the water environment. There are some really interesting and innovative projects underway and I’d urge people to visit our website to read more about them. Leading the Way is also helping us and the industry develop our thinking around how we can change customers’ behaviour around sewer misuse too.

Evaluating the impact of campaigns on behaviour change is challenging, which is why we’ve been supporting the development of tools for this purpose. These include the Water Saving Evaluation Toolkit, developed by Waterwise, and the Water Efficiency Confidence Scale, created by Artesia.

Stronger collaboration between water companies and water retailers is critical to ensuring business customers are empowered with the advice and practical support they need to save water. Our latest research shows less than half of business customers in England and Wales (43%) are engaging in water-saving activities. But more encouragingly, just over a third of businesses said they would be interested in receiving more advice and practical help on water saving.

We’ve been working with retailers and wholesalers, as well as other organisations, through our One Business Customer Forum to facilitate conversations so we can try address some of the barriers which may be affecting collaboration in this space. We are also part of the Retailer and Wholesaler Group leading on water efficiency and the roll-out of smart meters for businesses.

Smart meters have the potential to be a game-changer for business customers in understanding and changing their water use. But if we’re going to maximise this untapped potential, the journey for customers has to be a smooth one with good communication and access to the information they need every step of the way.

Smart metering is one of the many topics we explore in our Waterfall podcast. The podcast delves into every aspect of water saving, providing absorbing advice and insight from experts across the sector and beyond. I’m one of the podcast co-hosts so your readers can put a voice to these words - and soak up some valuable tips too, just search for CCW Waterfall.