CCW reflects on water companies’ final vulnerability strategies

On June 30, water companies across England and Wales published the final versions of their vulnerability strategies. These crucial documents serve as a roadmap, detailing how companies propose to provide the highest standards of service and support to customers who need extra help with their water and sewerage services.

CCW has worked in close collaboration with companies throughout both the drafting and refinement stages of their strategies. We have consistently challenged companies to raise their ambitions – urging faster progress and more impactful commitments.

Our overarching goal has been to ensure that customers are genuinely placed at the heart of these strategies and that the resulting plans will effectively meet people’s diverse needs.

We are pleased to see that in the strategies, all water companies have set out clear proposals on:

• Improved understanding of customer support needs: All companies have demonstrated a stronger awareness of people in their regions who may need extra support.
• New and enhanced support offerings: Companies are introducing and developing new services to address a wider range of customer needs.
• Increasing partnership working: All companies have plans to expand the number of partnership organisations they work with.
• Vulnerability training: Every company has committed to providing training for their customer-facing teams.
• Guaranteed Standards of Service: All companies have pledged to comply with these standards.
• Clear communication of support entitlements: All companies are committed to informing new customers of the extra support they have been registered for on the Priority Services Register (PSR).
• Board level oversight: Thirteen companies have committed to their Board reviewing progress against their strategies, with the remaining companies having alternative review panels.

We are however concerned that the strategies reveal varying levels of ambition for some crucial measures:

Satisfaction with support provided

Dŵr Cymru, Northumbrian Water, Essex and Suffolk Water and Seven Trent Water stand out for aiming for the highest levels of satisfaction with the support provided to their Priority Services customers. This signals a real commitment to ensuring that the support they provide is meaningful.

However, some companies have not committed to measure satisfaction at all, this is not acceptable. If a customer has registered for additional support, they should expect to receive it and be satisfied that it has met their needs – and companies should actively seek that feedback.

Awareness of additional support

It is essential that people are aware of support schemes so they can access the help they need, when they need it most. In our vulnerability manifesto, CCW set out a clear ambition for companies to aim to raise consumer awareness of support to 75% by 2030.

Southern Water, Thames Water, Yorkshire Water, Essex and Suffolk Water, Northumbrian Water, Severn Trent Water, SES Water, South West Water and Bristol Water are all aiming for 75% awareness or above. This shows clear intent to empower customers to experience services that meet, their needs.

Number of customers on the Priority Services Register (PSR)

It is estimated that approximately 50% of households in England and Wales may need additional support (pdf), and the level of help needed can vary significantly. Thames Water, SES Water, Southern Water, Wessex Water, United Utilities, Northumbrian Water, Essex and Suffolk Water and Dŵr Cymru are all aiming to help 25% register for the extra help they need.

For the remaining companies that have been less ambitious, we are calling on them to review their plans and act swiftly to prevent a ‘postcode lottery’ – where the awareness, satisfaction with and reach of support varies significantly depending on where a customer lives.

Delivering these strategies is a vital opportunity for water companies to restore trust and demonstrate that they do have customers’ best interests at the heart of their culture.

Our ongoing focus will be on how effectively companies deliver on their commitments. We will be evaluating how effectively these strategies deliver improved outcomes for people, focusing on increasing the number of customers registered for support and, most importantly, reaching those who need help the most.

About the author

Janine Shackleton is a Policy Manager at CCW, leading on our work with the water sector to improve support for customers in vulnerable circumstances.

Janine Shackleton, Policy Manager, CCW