PN 24/05: Water customers continuing to get good service

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PN 24/05	28 September 2005
Water customers continuing to get good service

A report published by Ofwat today shows that water companies are generally maintaining good levels of service to customers.

The report, 'Levels of service for the water industry in England and Wales 2004-05', reviews the performance of the water industry since privatisation and of individual companies over the past year.

Customers want a safe, reliable water supply and safe disposal of their sewage, at a reasonable cost, and this is what water companies are providing. All the companies are approaching the maximum score in Ofwat's 'overall performance assessment'(OPA), which measures the full range of services they provide. The industry continues to work on problems such as low water pressure and sewer flooding. We expect companies to invest nearly £1 billion to safeguard homes against the risk of sewer flooding during 2005-10.

Some parts of England are currently facing drought conditions and some customers are experiencing the first hosepipe restrictions for eight years. This is naturally unpopular with customers, but hosepipe bans and other water restrictions are sometimes necessary in very dry periods because the cost to customers of unlimited supply at such times would be prohibitively high – both financially and environmentally.

Ofwat's director of competition and consumer affairs Tony Smith said: "We are naturally very pleased to see the companies are generally maintaining their high standards of service and making improvements where necessary.

"Drinking water quality and environmental standards have also broadly continued to improve. These are achievements to be proud of, but we will continue work with the Drinking Water Inspectorate and the Environment Agency to monitor the companies closely to make sure they continue to make improvements."

Other key points from the report:

All companies achieved a good standard in customer service measures, For example, over 99 per cent of billing contacts from customers were answered within five working days.
The number of properties at risk of low pressure fell from 9,400 in 2003-04 to 7,400 in 2004-05.
In 2004-05 the number of properties affected by unplanned and prolonged (more than 12 hours) interruptions to supply decreased to 15,400 Of these, 6800 were caused by an exceptional storm in the Northumbrian region which swept away the two mains supplying Hexham. from 32,500 Of these, 26,300 were caused by three large water main bursts in the Thames region which were complicated and time-consuming to repair. in 2003-04.
The quality of drinking water as monitored by the DWI, continues to be very high (99.94 per cent of tests passed).
The number of homes at risk of internal sewer flooding at least twice in 10 years has remained stable at 3,100. 6,400 properties were at risk of sewer flooding once every 10 years, compared with 6,800 in 2003-04.
Sewage treatment works' compliance with Environment Agency standards was 96 per cent.
99 per cent of bathing waters met mandatory standards and 70 per cent of beaches reached Blue Flag status.
The number of pollution incidents decreased last year. But this improvement has not been shown by all companies. Ofwat and the Environment Agency will be discussing with the poorer performing companies how they can catch up with the best.
There were 16,800 compensation payments made under the Guaranteed Standards Scheme with a total value of £834,000. Along with these, 12,000 enhanced GSS payments were made with a total value of £1 million. Customer charter payments were also made totalling £1.3 million.
During the year Ofwat worked with companies, Water UK and WaterVoice to develop a new measure of customer service which looks at the quality of telephone call handling by companies. The results of a full-scale pilot study carried out in 2004 show that, at industry level, most customers are satisfied with the way calls are handled. The new measure started on 1 April this year and more detailed information will be available in time for next year's report.

Note to Editors:
1. The Director General of Water Services is the economic regulator of the water and sewerage companies in England and Wales. He exercises his powers in a way that he judges will allow them to carry out their functions properly, and finance them. His duties include protecting the interests of customers, wherever appropriate, by promoting effective competition.
2. The report, 'Levels of service for the water industry in England and Wales 2004-05', can be viewed on our website www.ofwat.gov.uk and is available from our library by calling 0121 625 1373.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES TO OFWAT PRESS OFFICE ON:
0121 625 1416/1496/1442

Out of hours enquiries to pager: 08700 555 500 water 503 or 07799 071377 or 07778 160806. Ofwat publications and press notices can be found on Ofwat's website at: www.ofwat.gov.uk

Assessment of company performance against the levels of service indicators 2004-05 (PDF - 111Kb)

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