We welcome the latest National Infrastructure Assessment

The Government’s independent advisers, the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), have yesterday published their latest review of the UK’s water, energy, transport and other key networks over the next 30 years – the National Infrastructure Assessment (NIA). 

The NIA calls for more investment in the water sector, estimating that it needs to rise to around £12 billion per year from 2025 to 2030. This is to deal with a range of challenges, including growing surface water flood risk and drought risk.   

These are the same challenges that we have identified at Southern Water while preparing our Business Plan for 2025-30. In fact, the South East is uniquely exposed to these issues owing to significant population growth expected in the region, with more than 800,000 new homes connected to our wastewater networks by 2050, and existing water scarcity in areas such as Hampshire.  

This is why in our Business Plan we have set out our intention to: 

• Accommodate over 86,000 new homes by 2030, including by building a new treatment works at Whitfield near Dover 
• Significantly increase the resilience of our water supplies through a once-in-a-generation £320m resilience investment at four sites that serve 62% of our customers and will reduce risk by 80% by 2033 
• Invest £261m into power, heat, flooding and coastal erosion protection for critical assets and sludge treatment 

These are just some of the measures included in our Business Plan, which has now been submitted to our regulator, Ofwat, for approval.  

As we await Ofwat’s consent, we would also welcome the implementation of the policy changes that the NIC has called for by the Government. 

In particular, the Commission’s recommendations for clear infrastructure resilience standards and streamlining the planning process for major projects. Recommendations for the Government to invest in long-term surface flood risk management infrastructure, setting clear risk reduction targets and committing to a 30-year investment programme, would also establish a stronger foundation to work with partners across different sectors and local authorities. This will be vital to reduce the risk to customers and local communities, and help keep surface water out of the sewer network. 

We look forward to discussing the NIC recommendations further with the Government and our local communities.