Welsh Water: Ofwat penalises company £24m for underperformance

Ofwat judges the performance of water companies in England and Wales each year and – if they fail to meet targets – it can restrict the amount of money they can take from customers.

In 2023, Welsh Water released sewage into rivers, lakes and the sea around Wales for more than 916,000 hours – about 20% of all hours of discharges across Wales and England.

Last month, the UK government announced legislation to tackle pollution that could see poorly performing water company bosses banned from receiving bonuses or even sent to prison.

David Black, the regulator’s boss, said this year’s performance is “stark evidence that money alone will not bring the sustained improvements”.

“It is clear that companies need to change and that has to start with addressing issues of culture and leadership,” he said.

“Too often we hear that weather, third parties or external factors are blamed for shortcomings.”