Scottish Water: a clear difference

At the time, CEO Jon Hargreaves asked for more time and explained that these things would pass as his extensive programme of rejuvenation took hold. And now…

According to the UK’s Water Industry Commission, Scottish Water customers are €140 a year better off as a result of efficiency savings made by the company (it has achieved nearly €1.5 billion in efficiencies since it was created in 2002).

Elsewhere, The Drinking Water Quality Regulator published his findings on the quality of tap water in Scotland. The study is the first since tighter European standards were brought in and the regulator, Tim Hooton, reported a high degree of compliance, above 99 percent.

More than 330,000 tests by Scottish Water were taken from treatment works, service reservoirs and consumer taps. Hooton found 99.42 percent of samples taken from customers’ taps passed the required standard. “Three years after the birth of Scottish Water, much work has been undertaken to merge the systems and practices of the three legacy authorities,” said Hooton. “I have been encouraged by many of the initiatives I have seen this year, and look forward to seeing them bear fruit in years to come. The current investment programme continues apace and assets are being upgraded across Scotland to meet modern standards and improve compliance with the regulations.”

Scottish Water has saved the Scottish public around UK£800 million over the past four years. That total was achieved by running the industry more efficiently and by delivering projects to improve our infrastructure at a lower cost than in the past.

Scottish Water was set up in 2002 to create a sustainable business that could deliver better value for money for customers and the environment.

Over the four years, we believe that we can clearly demonstrate that we are doing that. In our water industry, on the one hand there is a massive demand for investment in new and replacement infrastructure to meet new tighter standards and on the other hand there is a desire to keep prices down to a reasonable and affordable level.

Over our first four years, we have invested UK£1.8 billion on more than 2,000 projects to improve our infrastructure, clean up the environment and deliver a better service to customers. Over the next four years, we will be investing more than UK£2.4 billion – the second largest programme in the UK, only exceeded by Thames, which includes its preparation for the Olympics.

The progress that we’ve made by running the industry more efficiently means that we can deliver record investment while keeping charges down. Our average household charge for 2006-07 of UK£287 is now lower than the average of UK£294 paid by customers of the private companies in England and Wales.

Over the next four years, any increase in household charges will be kept to 0.5 percent below inflation. Increases in business charges will be kept to 1.5 percent below inflation.

This is a stability in charging which can’t be matched in the water industry south of the Border, nor in other utilities. Scottish Water is no longer the least efficient water company in the UK. We are now in the pack of the private companies down south. In four years, we’ve caught up with what they achieved over 17 years.

Drinking water quality has improved for more than 300 communities. Bathing waters and river quality have also improved through better treatment of wastewater in many places across Scotland. We have connected more than 80,000 new homes to our systems.

The ability for customers to contact Scottish Water has improved. Speed of response to inquiries and first-time resolution of customers’ issues is also better. Four years ago customer satisfaction stood at 75 per cent. It is now consistently at 95 percent.

Despite the impression given from some quarters, the vast majority of Scottish Water’s customers never have a problem with their service. On average a customer will only contact us once every ten years. For most people, they enjoy high-quality tap water envied elsewhere in the world and their wastewater is taken away without them having to think about it.

Despite this and the rapid progress that we’ve made we still have a long way to go to deliver the levels of customer service we believe are required.

Customers tell us they want to deal with an organisation that is easy to do business with, one that is responsible and keeps its promises. They also want good, clean, tasty drinking water at the right pressure coming out of their taps. They also expect us to take away their sewage and return it to the environment in a sustainable way that protects the environment, which is the lifeblood of Scotland’s economy.

They agree with us that flooding people’s homes with sewage is unacceptable. They recognise that they are prepared to pay for these improvements but any increases need to be at a low level.

Customers recognise that for some people as charges rise affordability and ability to pay become important issues that have to be addressed.

When you consider the issues facing the water industry across the UK, Europe and elsewhere, they are similar. There is a desire to have higher standards, lower risks of failure and an unlimited continuous plentiful supply of water at affordable prices.

There is evidence that customers generally support paying for improvements to the environment. However, they will only continue with that support if the things that they see as important – such as flooding, pressure, taste and colour – are getting better. They will also only continue to support the industry if the pace of improvements does not lead to significant price rises