The Welsh Government has announced plans to create a new stand-alone regulator for water in Wales, aligning oversight more closely with the Welsh border and promising a “vision for water reform in Wales” later this year. However, James Evans MS has questioned the lack of detail behind the proposals, warning that Welsh Labour is focusing on structure over substance while key water quality programmes have failed to deliver results. He said there was no mention in today’s statement of the £40 million already spent on water quality work, Nutrient Management Boards and Water Quality Programmes in recent years.
The Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, Huw Irranca-Davies MS, told the Senedd that the reforms would mark a new era of “ethical and collaborative” water management, combining economic regulation with environmental responsibility.
James Evans MS said:
“Whilst I welcome greater alignment on water cross-border and a new regulator to oversee the water companies, there were some glaring omissions in the Cabinet Secretary’s statement today. No mention of the £40 million plus that Welsh Government have spent on trying to address water quality in Wales these past few years. We have seen Nutrient Management Boards and Water Quality Programmes, but no mention of that today, could that be because these groups are failing to deliver meaningful outcomes?
“The Cabinet Secretary said, ‘We’re fortunate to have the UK’s only not-for-profit water company’. There is nothing fortunate when Dŵr Cymru customers face the second highest bills in the UK, with constituents telling me they’ve seen increases this year of around 40%. That’s not good value that’s exploitation!
“Yet again, these are ‘collaborative’ words from Huw Irranca-Davies, hanging off the coat-tails of UK Labour, instead of rolling up his sleeves and getting on with the job. Welsh Labour’s record on water is one of delay, bureaucracy, and wasted money, and my constituents have had enough.”
