Recommendation 13

In 2020, the previous Public Accounts Committee recommended that Defra provide an update on how it planned to accelerate the pace of infrastructure improvement, to address the gap between future water supply and demand in England, which was estimated to be 3.6 billion litres per day by 2050.31 Five years later, that gap is now estimated to be 5 billion litres a day by 2050. The regulators have come together to form the Regulators’ Alliance for Progress for Infrastructure Development (RAPID), to support and accelerate the development of new water infrastructure. Through RAPID, water companies have identified 30 major water supply projects which are needed to ensure the nation’s supply of water in the long term and where construction will take place over the next 15 years. These 30 projects include 9 reservoirs. Another reservoir near Portsmouth is already under construction.32 This will be the first reservoir built in 30 years.33 Ofwat estimates that companies will spend £52 billion over the lifetime of the projects, and that in most cases these costs will be funded outside of the price review process.34 Ofwat told us it has provided funding for companies to develop options for water supply projects.35 27 Q 37 28 Qq 16, 24; C&AG’s Report, para 1.19 29 Q 108; C&AG’s Report, para 2.4 30 Qq 10, 75 31 Committee of Public Accounts, Water supply and demand management, Ninth Report of Session 2019–21, HC 378, 1 July 2020 32 C&AG’s Report, paras 1.3, 2.39, 2.41 33 Q 17 34 C&AG’s Report, para 2.42 35 Q 51 12