Recommendation 15

Defra and the EA could not tell us how many proposed new homes are not being built because of water system constraints.40 Defra told us that it has set up a minister-led taskforce for high-profile infrastructure projects, working to ensure they can be built quickly.41 We explored with witnesses how quickly schemes could be planned for and funded. The EA told us that it had to be realistic about sudden changes in housing ambition, given the timeline of the planning process for water resources. Ofwat told us that it takes account of plans when it agrees funding in the price review and that the current price review was finalised.42 Funding is now set until 2030. The threshold for re-opening a price review to reflect additional costs is high, at 10% of the company’s annual turnover.43 36 Q 50 37 Q 17 38 Qq 50-52 39 Qq 50, 53 40 Qq 52-53 41 Qq 36, 50, 74 42 Qq 51, 101 43 C&AG’s Report, paras 1.9, 2.25 13 2 Regulating water companies’ operational and financial performance Environmental performance of the water sector