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can afford. It is very tempting, especially fol- lowing the recent unprecedented amount of engagement with customers across the water sector, to make assumptions about what cus- tomers want, now and in the future. It is true that the business plans submit- ted as part of our current price review reflect some common themes. They show that cus- tomers are looking for resilience, value for money, affordability, responsiveness and care, both for the environment and for future generations. But it is also clear that different customers have different priorities and that those priorities change over time. Trust and confidence don't come from ticking off a list of outcomes. Such an approach would work against precisely the sort of respon- siveness, evolution and innovation that is needed to meet changing cus- tomer expectations. Trust and confidence also stems from strong relationships. The most obvious relationship is between those who provide water and waste- water services and their customers. Customers are bill payers now, and in the future. But the environment is a customer, and so is society that more widely benefits from water and waste- water services. We must start looking at ser- vice providers in terms of the services they provide, because that is what customers experience. This demands a shi of focus, towards looking at the sector through the customer, rather than the producer, lens. The wide variety of services, customers and service providers adds another dimen- sion. A retail business will buy wholesale water and wastewater service from a whole- sale business. In future, those wholesale services may be provided by different com- panies, perhaps by farmers and landowners in the context of catchment management. What customers experience is the result of a complex set of interactions across a whole system. There are lots of different partici- pants in that system, including companies, customers, government, NGOs and regula- utIlIty WeeK | 27th June - 3rd July 2014 | 7 Comment O fwat has been asking lots of ques- tions in recent months. We've been asking questions of water companies, customer groups, NGOs, regulators and gov- ernment. Those questions have been criti- cal to the development of our new strategy, due this autumn. Through discussion, we have been seeking to establish a vision for the water and wastewater sector, both now and in the future, and a vision for Ofwat as the regulator. Now is an appropriate time to reflect back some of what we have heard. One of the questions posed back to us during these conversations is why a regula- tor would seek to establish a vision for the sector, as well as for itself. The answer is straightforward. As an economic regula- tor, we influence the behaviour of those we regulate, and we must be clear as to what end we do that. The vision we are develop- ing for the water and wastewater sector will be our touchstone, which guides us as we think about what we do, day to day, month to month and year to year. Our vision for the sector is simple, and it is a theme that has come up time and again in conversations. It is a vision of a sector that generates trust and confidence. Trust and confidence in the quality of drinking water, in the resilience of services and in value and affordability. Our vision includes trust and confidence in customer service, in fair deal- ing and in stewardship of the environment. And looking forward, it also encompasses trust and confidence that decisions taken today won't impoverish future generations. This vision of trust and confidence recog- nises that there is a fundamental difference between water and wastewater and other goods and services. They are essential public services where trust and confidence is vital and needs to be enduring. A lot has been achieved by the sector in the past 25 years, but trust and confidence is hard won and easily lost. Our vision for the sector reflects the challenges ahead in building and main- taining that trust and confidence. Trust and confidence is driven by the experience that customers have and whether they are getting what they need, want and A vision for the water sector The water sector must focus on what customers need, want and can afford, and this will require strong relationships between key stakeholders. It cannot be delivered by any one group in isolation. Chief executive's view Cathryn Ross, Ofwat tors. Strong relationships are needed if that system is to work well and if trust and confi- dence is to be maintained and grown. There is a role for Ofwat to play in helping to achieve this vision. We will need assur- ance that those strong, effective relation- ships exist and are delivering outcomes that customers need, want and are willing to pay for. Where those relationships are absent, or ineffective, we may need to step in. Our credibility and authority in helping to maintain and build those relationships comes in part because of our ability to intervene when necessary. Taking deci- sions on where, when and how to do so will need to be on the basis of a good understanding of what is being delivered in terms of those outcomes that matter to customers. We have a powerful set of regulatory tools, including price controls and licence enforcement. These tools will always play a large part in how we influence behaviour. But so will our wider tool kit – shining a light on issues, bringing the right people around the table to have the right conver- sation at the right time – which might avoid a more draconian intervention later. This will only be achieved through understanding bet- ter the influence of others in the sector. We need to work with them, collaboratively and in partnership and to use our toolkit in a way that complements the tools that others have. To achieve all this, Ofwat will have to change. That change is currently under- way and we are consulting with our people about how we will work and be structured in future. But the defining characteristics of our emerging strategy – a focus on what customers need, want and can afford – and a recognition that this results from a complex set of relationships – cannot be delivered by any one group in isolation. We are looking to all those within the sector to work with us to deliver that trust and confidence in water and wastewater, both now and in the future. " We must look at the sector through a customer, rather than a producer, lens"