The statutory provision is regulation 6(8) of the Water Industry (Specified Infrastructure Projects) (English Undertakers) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/ 1582) ("the SIP Regulations"). This confers a power on Ofwat to waive the requirement imposed on a licensed infrastructure provider (being Tideway, in respect of the Thames Tideway Tunnel project) to put certain contracts out to tender under a modified version of the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016 as set in Part 1 of Schedule 2 of the SIP Regulations. Tideway is neither a contracting authority nor a utility within the meaning of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 or Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016 and so is not subject to the normal procurement rules.

Following a public consultation, Ofwat issued two notices under this provision that waived Tideway’s obligation to comply with the modified version of the Utilities Contracts Regulations in certain limited and defined circumstances. The second notice issued by Ofwat provided Tideway with a narrow exemption for certain specified professional services relating to their financing and corporate arrangements, and only to the extent that those services will be paid for by its shareholders rather than customers.

OFWAT’s Chief Executive took part in a digital case study describing the challenges of its 2014 price review (PR14) and the role of Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) as the PR14 delivery partner, contracted through open competition, to bring new skills and knowledge to OFWAT’s workforce to help secure a successful outcome. The case study was produced after the PR14 programme had ended and reflected the conclusion from OFWAT’s ‘lessons learned’ exercise that the delivery partner arrangement had been successful.

The Government has regular discussions with Ofwat about its strategic priorities and objectives for regulation of the water sector.

Ofwat sets price controls independently of Government. This independence is crucial to ensure stable economic regulation which keeps investment costs down and customer bills low.

In 2009, Ofwat set price controls for the period from 2010 to 2015. During this period water companies benefited from several factors outside their control, including low taxation and low borrowing costs. In March 2013, Ofwat challenged companies to share gains with their customers. The then Secretary of State wrote to companies in November 2013 in support of Ofwat’s drive. As a result, companies absorbed costs and provided water bill discounts worth £435 million over this period.

In 2014, Ofwat delivered a tough price review which means that bills will fall by around 5% in real terms from 2015 to 2020.

Open Water is the programme responsible for the design and delivery of the new retail market. It has not been wound up. It includes the work of Defra, Ofwat, and Market Operator Services Limited (MOSL), which is a private company owned by market participants. MOSL’s precursor, Open Water Markets Limited, is being wound-up, following the transition of the majority of its functions to MOSL.

For further information please see Ofwat’s information notice IN 15/08 (Opening a new retail market for non-household customers – roles, responsibilities and governance for the Open Water programme after May 2015). This is available on Ofwat’s website.

The Open Water programme is funded by contributions from water and sewerage companies. In June 2015, Open Water published an update on the programme budget (Revised budget for implementing the new water and wastewater retail services market in England – the Open Water programme), which is available on Ofwat’s website.

Water companies must comply with the Data Protection Act 1988 in all aspects of their businesses, including handling data from meters.

Water UK, through its Revenue Metering Network, provides the opportunity for companies to share best practice and expertise on different approaches to metering. Each water company is responsible for ensuring that its approach is compliant with all legal and regulatory requirements.

The definition of a customer of a water or sewerage undertaker is: any person for or to whom that company provides any services in the course of carrying out the functions of a water undertaker or sewerage undertaker.

A customer of a licensed water supplier is defined as: any person to whom that company provides a supply of water in accordance with its retail authorisation.