Water & Wastewater Treatment

14 | november 2014 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk the view of it has always been a bit like sharing the Pound. It's a question of basic pragmatism. If you have something small, it's better that it works jointly and effectively with something larger. The red line might be the country being treated as an equal as opposed to being told that you've got to change something because it's been decided [by Ofwat]." As the country approaches the next spend- ing review period, 2015 – 2021, it will focus on improving resilience and customer service, he says, as he explained in his talk at the Water Scotland conference organised by Water and Wastewater Treatment earlier this month. "Investment in the industry will continue to run at historically high rates, and there will be a considerable focus on resilience and security of supply. We're aiming to invest to get us to the point of being a fully resilient industry, so if a pipe bursts, people remain supplied with water. "That's about smarter spending rather than increased spending. In some cases we might change how we use land and water resources. It may involve freeing up money from catchment management and spending it on improving resilience. Benchmarking customer service Customer service will also be further improved, and taken to new levels, says Sutherland. "Scottish Water talks about being the most valued and trusted business here. That would mean you'd have to do better than companies like John Lewis and Virgin, for example, so it would involve benchmarking against firms like that, rather than other utilities," he affirms. His third observation on the review is that a regulatory first has been achieved with regard to the prices for households being set to increase by 1.6 per cent rather than being linked to infla- tion, and prices for businesses won't increase. "Customers told us they'd rather know now what the increase would be rather than wait to be informed of an inflation-linked figure," he adds. Lastly, getting customers more involved in regulation makes sense because it's constructive, moves away from adversarial relationships and simplifies those between the regulator and the regulated company, while reducing costs and getting a good deal for customers, he claims. Meeting the objectives set out in the review is all part of the challenge of Sutherland's job and it's what makes it interesting, he says, while adding that he didn't expect to be doing it for as long as he has. A native of Glasgow, prior to taking up his current post in 2005 Sutherland had worked as the Water Industry Commissioner from 1999. With an MA and MBA from Pennsylvania University in the US, his career has also involved roles in banking, business and in management consultancy. Graduating in 1984 with a Master's in Russian studies at St. Andrews University - which incor- porated economics, history and philosophy, as well as the language - his career began at Lloyds Bank, before leading to roles at a small Scottish stockbroking firm, as an MD of a US business and then in management consultancy with Bain and Company. Having notched up 15 busy years now at the Commission, his role began with the merging of local authorities in the lead-up to Scottish Water's establishment in 2002, while improving efficiency during that initial phase. There were also testing times in the four years that followed, throughout the opening up of the market within the competition framework and then leading up to and during this price review and the previ- ous two that there have been since 2010, as the benefits of a decade's work, in efficiencies and service improvements have filtered through. Navigating a way through those challenges has drawn particularly on his analytical train- ing, practicality and professionalism, ability to compromise to get things done and an awareness of what makes people tick, specifically those who are on the boards of private corporations, he observes. It's an approach that could be seen as required by the entire water industry, of course, in the context of climate change and its many consequences. The aforementioned focus on resilience is a key priority of the review, and it will involve plenty of "what if " questions being addressed, he notes – perhaps, for example with better infrastructure being put in place to deal with leaks and incentives being put in place to better manage and reduce them. Maximising the use of hydropower and other renewables such as solar to reduce CO2 emis- sions and running costs are already playing a part, as increasingly are larger business custom- ers, particularly as they seek to enhance their own green credentials and reduce their water consumption to meet corporate social responsi- bility goals. With matters like these to be dealt with in the years ahead, Sutherland's job is likely to remain interesting for some time yet. By John Reynolds Industry leader Path to the top 2005 Sutherland's role as commissioner evolves into his current post: chief executive, Water Industry Commission Scotland 1999 Takes up the new role of Water Industry Commissioner, under which he advises the then Scottish executive on the merger of three water authorities to form Scottish Water. Sutherland then led the development of a framework for the economic regulation of Scottish Water, and the introduction of the retail competition framework in 2008, which allows all businesses and public sector organisations in Scotland to choose supplier. 1997-99 managing Director, Wolverine Worldwide: managed the launch of Wolverine brands, including Hush Puppies and Caterpillar Footwear, in russias 1992-97 Consultant, bain & Company: Sutherland worked on major projects for public sector clients including the World bank, ebrD and USAID. He also spent time in russia working on the russian Privatisation Programme, and identifying russian investment opportunities for Western companies. 1986-91 Continued his financial career with robert Fleming and Company, where he analysed companies in the electronics, electricals and industrial holdings sectors 1984-5 begins his career as a graduate trainee at Lloyds bank, followed by a spell as a stockbroker for Savory milln 1984 Graduates with a masters in russian Studies from St.Andrew's University. "While there was not a Yes vote, the idea - as part of home rule or more devolution - is that there will be a combined regulator in Scotland for these different services." Alan Sutherland

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