Water companies pledge £2.8bn investment package in new business plan
The owner of South West Water, Bristol Water and Bournemouth Water has presented its plan for 2025-2030 to MPs this week
Last updated 17th Oct 2023
The parent company which owns South West Water, Bristol Water and Bournemouth Water has put forward its business plan to MPs this week in Westminster.
As part of its plans, Pennon Water claims, between 2025 and 2030, they will invest £2.8 billion across the region, a move which will help them to boost local jobs, too - with their cash hoped to increase their workforce by an extra 2,000.
The water company held a reception at the House of Commons on Monday (October 16), with senior representatives, including Chief Executive Susan Davy, explaining how the plan will meet the needs of the region over the next five-year period.
It's called 'The Right Deal for Right Now', which they claim was developed in collaboration with over 30,000 customers and 1,000 of their stakeholders, in a bid to continue their four key priorities.
These are:
- Investing in Water Quality and Water Resilience
- Tackling Storm Overflows and Pollution
- Delivering for Customers and Addressing Affordability
- Reaching Net Zero and Enhancing Environmental Gains
Pennon say this plan helps to reaffirm their commitment to customers, communities and the environment.
The plan will see enhanced investment in new treatment works and reservoirs while, they say, keeping bills as low as possible for customers, with a commitment to eradicating water poverty.
It also commits to eliminating storm overflows at bathing and shellfish waters, and achieving net zero, by 2030.
The cross-party Westminster reception featured Steve Double, former Water Minister and Member of Parliament for St Austell and Newquay, the Rt Hon George Eustice, former Environment Secretary of State and Member of Parliament for Camborne and Redruth, and Pennon Group Chief Executive, Susan Davy.
Steve Double MP said: “It was a pleasure to attend the launch of Pennon’s PR24 business plan submission in Parliament. As regional MPs it is vital that we are working closely with the water company to ensure that they are making the improvements we all want to see, and protecting the environment. I am reassured by their plans and looking forward to seeing them implemented in the months and years to come.”
The Rt Hon George Eustice MP said: “It is encouraging to see the Pennon Group responding to the new policy direction I set out while Secretary of State at Defra, with new proposals to improve capacity and reduce the use of storm overflows in the next pricing review period. While there have been issues caused by our Victorian sewage infrastructure, it is now important for water companies and regulators to work together on the solutions."
Susan Davy said: “We were pleased to share our plan to our MPs and explain how more investment in our region will enable us to go further and faster to address our key priorities.
“This plan is not just about words; it's about taking actions to meet the needs of the Greater South West. We will invest record amounts in our infrastructure: increasing water resilience, tackling the use of storm overflows and strengthening our environmental efforts. This will boost the local economy and create new jobs.
We've listened to our customers, engaged with communities, and are making progress as we put our promises into practice, and we also need to protect customers from unaffordable increases in their bills. That’s why our plan will set out to do more with less, driving efficiency and innovation to keep increases as low as possible.”
You can see Pennon Water's business plan in full here.