The working group, which was announced by Ofwat in January, will also feature representatives from the regulator, CCWater, and the water companies. It will be chaired by Waterwise managing director Jacob Tompkins.
The group will feature: Information Innovation Lab head of design and research Kat Austen; Costain’s corporate development director Tim Bowen; WWF freshwater expert Rose O’Neill; CCWater vice chair Diane McCrea; Cranfield Univerity academic fellow Heather Smith; and Ofwat director of parliamentary and public affairs Nicci Russell.
Alongside these members will be: Thames Water external affairs and sustainability director Richard Aylard; Severn Trent chief customer officer Sarah Bentley; Albion Water chairman Jerry Bryan; Southern Water’s head of environment and quality John Spence; and Anglian Water director of regulation Jean Spencer.
The creation of the working group by Ofwat is in response to the regulator being given a new statutory duty for resilience in the Water Act last year.
The task-and-finish group will work for a year producing a series of short reports before producing a final report which will feed into the regulator’s thinking for the PR19 policy framework.
These reports will aim to answer the following questions:
• What is resilience in relation to the provision of water and wastewater services?
• What do service providers need to consider as they think about how best to provide resilient water and wastewater services?
• What does Ofwat need to consider as it thinks about how best to regulate the water and wastewater service providers, having regard to its statutory duties, including its new duty on resilience?
Working group chair Tompkins said: “The aim of the group will be to develop a wider consensus around the way in which resilience should be considered by the water and wastewater sector and to make suggestions as to how services can be made resilient.”
Ofwat director Russell, added: “The independence of the group underlines how we are keen to use external input and ideas to inform our thinking, and for service providers to take ownership of issues such as resilience, working with their customers.”