Peter Thurman
0774 068 1280
From: Grayston, Nicholas A (ERG-FMP)
[mailto:Nicholas.Grayston@xxxxxx.gsi.gov.uk]
Sent: 10 July 2012 10:49
To: waterwp (ERG)
Subject: [Bulk] Draft Water Bill - publised today
Today the Secretary of State announced in a Written Ministerial Statement
the publication of the draft Water Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny.
The draft Water Bill takes forward legislative changes set out in Chapter 5
of the Water White Paper. These include:
. allowing all business and other non-household customers in England
to switch their water and sewerage suppliers;
. removing some of the existing regulatory requirements that act as
a barrier to new entrants wishing to enter the market;
. allowing for Ofwat, other regulators and market participants to
establish market codes to help new competitive markets run more effectively;
. facilitating the development of a joint retail market for water
and sewerage services by reducing burdens for operators that wish to supply
services both in Scotland and in England and to eligible water supply
customers in Wales;
. introducing a more flexible upstream pricing regime, and allowing
increased opportunities in the upstream supply sector - giving water
companies an incentive to come up with cheaper, more sustainable solutions
to sourcing water and dealing with sewage;
. stimulating wholesale markets in water supply and sewerage
services by extending opportunities for new entrants to offer alternative
supplies and services to customers and to other new entrants;
. reforming the special merger regime to exclude more mergers from
automatic referral to the Competition Commission by introducing a two-tier
referral system allowing some water companies seeking to take over another
water company to avoid a referral by making undertakings in lieu; and
. reforming the connection charges regime to help facilitate housing
growth.
The draft Bill will modernise Ofwat's regulatory powers to allow it to
continue to regulate the industry in the interests of consumers. The Bill
will also extend the scope of the Environmental Permitting regime to include
water abstraction and impounding licences, flood defence consents and fish
pass approvals. And the frequency of drought planning will change to a five
yearly cycle so that it aligns with other water planning cycles.
Pre-legislative scrutiny
The scrutiny process allows for thorough consultation on the draft Bill,
ensuring that both Parliament and stakeholders have the opportunity to
comment before it is finalised for introduction into Parliament. The
Committee holding the inquiry into the draft Bill will usually issue a call
for written evidence before holding public evidence sessions and we will
keep you informed of the timetable for this process.
Following the scrutiny process, the Water Bill will then be introduced into
Parliament at the earliest opportunity.
Although we are not formally consulting on the proposals within the draft
Water Bill, if you wish to make any comments please email the Bill team at
waterwp@xxxxxx.gsi.gov.uk
Further information on the draft Water Bill is available from the Defra
website
<http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/water/legislation/water/>
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
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