29 September 2006
A new Ofwat report has highlighted how water companies have failed to make a prompt start on their £16.8 billion five-year investment programme.
The report found that water companies were expected to implement their investment plans efficiently after price limits were set in 2004 but many have been slow in getting such schemes off the ground.
In fact, the total capital investment by the industry was only £3.4 billion compared with Ofwat's expectation of £4.3 billion.
Philip Fletcher, Ofwat chairman, said: "When we set price limits companies argued strongly that they required more money to safeguard improvements to customer services and the environment.
"But they have been slow in getting the schemes started and face a stiff challenge if they are to meet all requirements by 2010."
"We and our fellow regulators will monitor closely the continuing performance of water companies to ensure that they deliver fully the programmes which they accepted as part of the price limit package."
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