Recommendation 3

Government has failed to develop a national message to consumers on the need to reduce water consumption and how to do so. Government relies on water companies to promote the importance of reducing water consumption. But with 6 Water supply and demand management each company adopting different approaches there is no coherent or coordinated national message. As a result, awareness of the need for water efficiency is very low compared to that of saving energy. There is no evidence of the impact on consumer awareness or behaviour of what water companies are doing. This demonstrates that industry action has been insufficient and has failed, and that government now needs to substantially step up its efforts to coordinate increased awareness of the need to reduce water consumption. In July 2019 a group of organisations including the Environment Agency launched the ‘Love Water’ campaign, but the campaign has no central funding and relies on voluntary contributions from water companies, none of which has yet been secured. To date there is very little to show for the campaign besides a Twitter feed with fewer than 1,000 followers, and the Environment Agency accepts that a lot more needs to be done. For the non-domestic market, including the public estate such as hospitals and schools, the government has attempted to improve water efficiency by introducing competition to allow customers to choose alternative retailers. But the rate of switching has so far been pitiful, and the retailers that are operating in the market are generally failing to offer water efficiency advice and services. Recommendations: The Department should urgently develop a plan, with adequate funding, to increase public awareness of the need to save water. The Department should write to us by 31 December 2020 to update us on progress in this regard. The Department should publish annual league tables showing water companies’ and retailers’ performance on reducing consumption. Annual published league tables should be introduced by 31 December 2020.