In April 2019 the water industry reaffirmed its ongoing determination to work in the public interest through publication of Water UK’s Public Interest Commitment (PIC).
At the heart of the PIC are pledges to champion measures through which water companies can enshrine public interest within their business purpose, and to work together towards five challenging goals for social and environmental progress.
The specific pledges in the Public Interest Commitment are:
As part of a wider long-term strategy to reduce per capita consumption of water and invest in more water transfer and storage, this goal represents an unprecedented rate of improvement to help us to meet the unprecedented challenges posed to water supplies by climate change and population growth.
This requires a package approach tailored to local needs, including measures such as helping customers to be more water efficient, providing social tariffs and additional forms of financial assistance, and working with other organisations to support customers in vulnerable circumstances.
We will end the use of avoidable single-use plastics in our businesses and support the contribution which the public can make by providing water refill facilities and through education. Our ambition is to be world leading in the role water companies can play in the wider campaign to cut down on plastic pollution.
Along with investment in skills, this is part of our wider aim to promote opportunity in local communities and increase talent and diversity within companies. The Pledge commits to action in three areas – partnering with schools or colleges to provide coaching, providing structured work experience and/or apprenticeship opportunities, and adopting open employee recruitment practices – all aimed at people from disadvantaged backgrounds or circumstances.
Each pledge has a water company Chief Executive Sponsor, and we are pleased that our Chief Executive Heidi Mottram is the sponsor for pledges on affordability and on carbon.
