WET News

4 WET NEWS JULY 2018 | wwtonline.co.uk NEWS+ Thames to pay for leakage failings • Ofwat orders utility to repay £65M to customers over its failure to adequately control leakage T hames Water has agreed to pay £65 million back to customers as part of a package of payments and penal- ties worth £120 million. This follows an Ofwat investigation that found that Thames Water's board did not have sufficient oversight and control of the company's leakage performance. The £65 million payment to customers is on top of £55 million in automatic penalties incurred by the company for missing the commitment it made to customers to cut leaks. Following Ofwat's investigation, Thames has committed to bring forward the payment of these automatic penalties. This means that Thames' shareholders will return a total of £120 million to customers. As a result, each Thames customer will get a total rebate of approximately £15 over the next two years. Ofwat's investigation found that Thames Water breached two of its legal obligations through poor leakage management. It concluded that Thames Water's board and management did not pay enough attention to reducing leakage and that the company underestimated the significance of its underperformance on leakage when assuring Ofwat that it was meeting its statutory obligations, one of which is to deliver an efficient and economic service. As part of the proposed settlement, Thames Water has committed to getting its leakage performance back in line with what it has promised it will deliver for its customers in 2019-20. It will also publish its performance each month in tackling leaks, appoint an independent monitor to certify the information in its monthly leakage reports, make additional leakage reductions of 15 per cent by 2025 and do more to engage with customers on leakage issues – including at its board. Thames Water has also pledged to provide Ofwat with more detailed evidence to assure that it is meeting its statutory obligations in relation to leakage and improving its management control over the delivery of core operational functions. Ofwat chief executive Rachel Fletcher said: "Thames Water failed its customers in tackling leakage and the measures we've announced today illustrate the scale of the company's shortcomings and how seriously we take them. "High leakage creates unnecessary strain on the environment, excess costs for customers and increased risk of water shortages. A well-run water company will have a good understanding of the condition of its pipes and will be able to reduce leakage over time. "Ofwat has set all water companies a target of bringing down leakage by at least another 15 per cent up to 2025 and expects further reductions beyond this date. "Thames has assured us that they now have a grip on the leakage situation, but this should serve as a catalyst for the company to improve how it delivers on its wider commitments to customers." "Customers don't want to see their water company letting them down like this, but we hope the rebate they will now receive goes some way towards compensating them for their water company's failure to live up to its commitments to cut leakage." Steve Robertson, Thames Water CEO, said: "Reducing leakage is really important to us and to our customers. We met our leakage targets for a decade but our recent performance has not been good enough. We let our customers down and for that we're sorry. "We have taken more control of how we manage the network and are investing significantly more in people and resources to tackle leakage, get back on track and then go beyond. Thanks to these changes already in place, our current leakage repair performance is our best ever at around 1,000 a week. Our focus is to restore customers' trust and confidence in Thames Water." Atkins appoints Whale to lead water market strategy R ichard Whale has been named Atkins' new water market director, responsi- ble for leading the company's drive for further growth in the UK and overseas water markets. A civil engineer by profes- sion, Whale has been with SNC- Lavalin's Atkins business for 18 years and has held a number of senior leadership roles working with water utility companies across the UK. In his new role, he will lead the development and delivery of Atkins' long-term water market strategy, both in the UK and overseas, focusing on its for- ward-thinking engineering capability, which utilises new technology and products to drive efficiency and value for clients. Whale said: "The pace and breadth of change across the water industry is driving new approaches to address the global challenges associated with climate change, popula- tion growth and water scarcity. "I'm extremely proud to lead Atkins during this time and to have the opportunity to work with colleagues to build on our extensive experience in the water sector, namely driving innovation to deliver faster, smarter and more reliable out- comes for our clients and ena- bling them to achieve increasing levels of satisfaction for their customers." In a recent interview with Pol- iticsHome, Whale said: "The water industry is transitioning away from large capital invest- ments and towards more holis- tic interventions, which require engineers to focus on asset opti- misation strategies before considering the refurbishment and replacement of existing assets. Remember, industry reg- ulation is focusing on customer outcomes and no longer fixated on building new assets. "The supply chain will con- tinue to work with the water industry to find more efficient ways of delivering better cus- tomer outcomes and the secret to unlocking further efficiency lies with the availability of qual- ity and reliable asset perfor- mance data. "Atkins is proud of its contri- butions in this regard." Atkins, which was acquired by SNC-Lavalin in July last year, supports the water, wastewater and water-related environmen- tal sectors with services from water strategy planning and flood management to infrastruc- ture investment planning, design and asset optimisation. Most recently the company was awarded a contract by Water UK to develop a 'first of its kind' framework for drainage and wastewater management plans for water companies across England and Wales. Jacobs appoints Harvey to lead utilities in Europe B ryan Harvey has been appointed as vice-presi- dent of Jacobs' utilities business in Europe. Based in London, Harvey is responsible for programme and service delivery to Jacobs' regu- lated utility clients in the water and energy markets in the UK and European. "Many of our utilities clients are facing resiliency challenges as they respond to population growth, price pressures, secu- rity of supply issues, ageing infrastructure and the on-going variability associated with cli- mate change," Harvey said. "Our new offering in utilities enables us to help our clients and whole communities think differently about the future and how they become more resilient." Commenting on Harvey's appointment, Jacobs' buildings and infrastructure Europe sen- ior vice-president and general manager, Donald Morrison, added: "Helping our clients build a strategic, long-term and integrated view on utilities assets makes us all more resilient, and gives communi- ties and business the confidence they need to thrive and remain competitive in the global economy." A chartered civil engineer and business leader with over 27 years' experience across the water sector in particular, Har- vey was previously responsible for the global strategy and sales of CH2M's water business, and led global water operations prior to that. He joined CH2M in 2012, hav- ing previously held strategy and commercial roles for regional water businesses in Europe, Asia and Australia. Harvey also holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the London School of Economics. "Thames failed its customers and the measures we've announced illustrate the scale of its shortcomings" Rachel Fletcher, Ofwat Costain expands its tech centre C ostain is expanding its technology centre with a move to new accommoda- tion as it broadens its offering to clients across the water, trans- portation and energy sectors. By the end of the year, Cos- tain said around 150 staff will relocate from Yatton to the new premises at Weston Gateway Business Park near Worle, North Somerset. The group acquired the cur- rent Yatton technology facility in 2016. From an initial focus on highways, providing technology solutions such as motorway sig- nage, signalling and CCTV sys- tems, Costain has broadened its activities and is now providing forward-thinking technology solutions to clients across all its operations in water, transporta- tion and energy. Costain chief executive Andrew Wyllie CBE said: "The further expansion of our tech- nology capability through this enlarged group-wide facility is another important step towards establishing Costain as the UK's leading smart infrastructure company." Meanwhile, Costain has announced the appointment of Helen Simms as capability director for consultancy. The company said the move would build on its credentials in providing engineering and advi- sory services to clients in Cos- tain's key sectors. "I am delighted and very excited to join Costain, which places a strong focus on consul- tancy, including engineering and advisory services," said Simms. See P10 for interview with Costain's water director Maxine Mayhew

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