On 25 October 2019, the documentation submitted by Water UK in relation to sewerage was approved by Ofwat. The final approved documentation can be downloaded by following the links below.
Sewerage adoption
On 25 October 2019, the documentation submitted by Water UK in relation to sewerage was approved by Ofwat. The approved documentation can be reached via the link below.
The new sewerage adoption arrangements will come into effect on 1 April 2020. In order to allow a smooth introduction of the new arrangements alongside various other initiatives which are to take effect on that date, reporting against most of the new performance metrics is going to be delayed for a maximum of six months from 1 April, as noted in the Sewerage Sector Guidance document.
Independent Sewerage Adoption Panel
A requirement of Ofwat’s Code for adoption agreements is that all requests for changes to the documentation approved by Ofwat be submitted to an independent panel, comprised of an equal number of water companies and customers. The role of the panel is to make recommendations to Ofwat where it consider that changes to the approved documentation are appropriate.
Under the chairmanship of Victor Olowe, the sewerage panel comprises the following individuals:
| Gary Boddington | Anglian Water | Drainage Manager |
| Ali Tregale | South West Water | Developer Manager |
| Nick Ayling | Thames Water | Technical & Regulatory Advisor |
| Jenny Henman | Yorkshire Water | Key Account Manager, Developer Services |
| Richard Starritt | Severn Trent | Design Manager, Developer Services |
| Gavin Thorne | Barratt | Group Utilities Manager |
| Karl Walker | Seddon Homes | Technical Manager |
| Justin Gaggini | Kier Living | Technical Manager |
| Sam Vernon | Bellway | Engineer |
| Marcus Maughan | Redrow | Engineering Manager |
Those wishing to contact the sewerage panel can do so at this address:
<sewerageadoption@water.org.uk>
Water adoption
On 7 October 2019, Water UK submitted revised documentation for approval by Ofwat. That documentation can be found below. Ofwat has indicated that it wishes to undertake further consultation before responding to this submission. Its latest website update is as follows: “We now expect to make our decision in February 2019. If we do approve the documents, we do not currently anticipate any change in the timing of their implementation by water companies, but that will form part of our final decision.” The relevant page on the Ofwat website is
https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/regulated-companies/markets/connections-market/code-adoption-agreements/
If Ofwat maintains this timetable, implementation of the water adoption code would therefore take place in April 2020.
Independent Water Adoption Panel
A requirement of Ofwat’s Code for adoption agreements is that all requests for changes to the documentation approved by Ofwat be submitted to an independent panel, comprised of an equal number of water companies and customers. The role of the panel is to make recommendations to Ofwat where it consider that changes to the approved documentation are appropriate.
Under the chairmanship of Victor Olowe, the water panel comprises the following individuals:
| Patrick Daly | PN Daly | Commercial Director |
| Ben Brownbill | Infrastructure Gateway | Technical Director |
| David Topping | Triconnex | Managing Director |
| Damian Hill | Persimmon Homes | Projects Manager |
| Rob Perrins | Berkeley Homes | Technical Director |
| Graham Morley | United Utilities | Technical Assurance Manager |
| James Ball | Anglian Water | Scheme Delivery Manager |
| Daniel Borst | Severn Trent | Self-Lay Lead – Developer Services |
| Nigel Martin | Wessex Water | Head of Developer Services |
| Martin Ballington | Southern Water | Water Networks Contract Manager |
Those wishing to contact the water panel can do so at this address:
<wateradoption@water.org.uk>