Minister highlights collaborative momentum in the water sector
Water Minister Emma Hardy marked a renewed spirit of collaboration and recognition of sector achievements in her keynote speech at the British Water Annual Conference, held in Coventry on 10 November 2025.
“This is an incredibly important and exciting time for the water sector,” Water Minister Emma Hardy said during her keynote address. “Real progress is being made. Yet we all know there is much more to do.
“Bringing people together to share best practice will enable the sector to deliver the real change this country needs to see. I want to support this however I can.”
The Minister reaffirmed the government’s intention to publish a White Paper on water industry reform. “We will be seeking your consultation on this,” she told delegates. “This will set out our vision for a reformed water sector that delivers better outcomes for customers, investors, and the environment.”
She also confirmed plans to create a single, powerful regulator, consolidating the roles of Ofwat, the Environment Agency, Natural England and the Drinking Water Inspectorate, as recommended by Sir Jon Cunliffe in the Independent Water Commission review. The new body would be established through the Water Reform Bill, which the government intends to introduce early in the current Parliament.
Opening the session, Severn Trent Water chief executive Liv Garfield emphasised her company’s focus on environmental performance, noting: “We know how important that is to the public.” Achieving this, she said, is: “about delivering more projects than ever before, and doing that in a whole range of different ways.” Highlighting the “power of partnerships”, she added: “We know it’s around scale engineering; it’s around innovation to tackle challenges that haven’t even been voiced yet.”
A panel chaired by British Water Chair Stephen Slessor, Chief Executive of RSE, then explored the regulatory landscape. Chris Walters, Interim Chief Executive of Ofwat, underlined the need to restore public trust in the water sector “to remain credible” until the new integrated regulator for England, and the separate system for Wales, is in place.
“We need to oversee and support the biggest five-year investment and expenditure programme in any five-year period since privatisation,” he said, “to safeguard the health of our rivers, our seas, and our waterways, to improve the resilience of our water supplies, and to get water companies to raise their game on performance for customers and the environment.” He noted the importance of supporting asset health and economic growth through greater agility and flexibility, adding: “We must also play our role in progressing the pipeline of 30 major projects worth £50 billion… including taking the lessons we’ve learned from competitive delivery models [like Thames Tideway] and building on those to further support their progress.”
John Leyland, Executive Director Of Environment & Business at the Environment Agency, spoke about the importance of public engagement. “We will deliver some amazing things [in the next five years],” he said. “We need to take the public with us, because taking people with us will help drive action in the places where it’s needed, not where the media might say it’s hottest.”
Drinking Water Inspectorate Chief Inspector Marcus Rink offered an international benchmark, reporting UK drinking water quality performance at 99.97%, compared with a European average of 99.44%. “There are only two countries in Europe that rival us in terms of the quality of our drinking water,” he said, citing Finland and the Netherlands. He noted that the sector should scrutinise and “learn from that success, and transfer that for the future.”
A panel on project delivery brought together senior representatives from five water companies, who discussed routes into the sector for suppliers and innovators. Jane Simpson, Commercial, Engineering & Capital Delivery Director at United Utilities, outlined how investment had “quadrupled” over the past two five-year asset management plans (AMPs). She described a major shift in the company’s supply chain model, driven by the adoption of the Project 13 enterprise approach to deliver 50–60 complex projects valued at over £20 million each.
“We’ve gone from having about three main suppliers to having over 100,” she said. “So that’s a massive step-up for us, and a big change for our supply chain.” Addressing questions about the early months of AMP8, which began in April 2025, she said, “We’re doing really well,” highlighting increased regulatory focus on delivery. “Ofwat has given us interim milestones, and I am holding my team to account against those interim milestones.”
Reflecting on the event, British Water Chief Executive Lila Thompson observed that “the sector is turning a corner in terms of the narrative coming from government and regulators.” She added that the Minister’s recognition of the importance of public engagement would help deliver improved outcomes for the environment and communities, including clean bathing waters and resilient supplies. Thompson emphasised the need to attract and retain skilled professionals: “Attracting top talent to the sector, and retaining this highly skilled workforce, is essential if we are to deliver these huge programmes of works, so that narrative really matters.”
She also reiterated British Water’s role: “British Water is the lead UK membership body representing businesses in the water and wastewater supply chain, ensuring members’ voices are heard, to build an effective ecosystem of delivery partners in collaboration with wider stakeholders. Our goal is to work ever more collaboratively, with utilities, regulators, innovators, suppliers and other groups, to meet the challenges and opportunities shaping the future of the water sector.”
As part of its 2025 agenda, British Water launched The Client Exchange on the second day of the conference. The new networking forum is designed to accelerate the implementation of forthcoming projects and build a clearer pipeline of opportunities across the sector. Suppliers met directly with representatives from water companies, consultancies and contractors through interactive Q&A sessions.
