CEO BLOG: Future Water’s Contribution to the Cunliffe-Led Water Commission

Shaping the Future of the UK Water Sector

As the UK water sector faces unprecedented challenges—including climate change, ageing infrastructure, and rising customer expectations—the need for regulatory reform has never been more urgent.

In response to the ongoing work of the Cunliffe-led Water Commission, Future Water has been actively contributing insight and advocating for transformation across several key areas. As a champion of collaboration and innovation, our input reflects the sector’s need for a more resilient, sustainable, and efficient approach to water management.

A Unified Call for Change

Chaired by Sir Jon Cunliffe, the Commission is reviewing how the UK water industry is regulated and will make recommendations for reform to improve efficiency, sustainability, and infrastructure resilience.

Future Water has played a key role in ensuring the views of its diverse membership—utilities, developers, regulators, and the supply chain—are heard throughout this process.

One major concern is the fragmented regulatory landscape, with Ofwat, the Environment Agency, and the Drinking Water Inspectorate often operating in silos. This has led to inefficiencies and delays, particularly for infrastructure projects. Future Water advocates for a more coordinated regulatory model to become more efficient and align with environmental priorities.

We’re also calling for longer-term investment planning. The current five-year AMP cycles can promote short-term thinking. We’ve recommended moving to ten-year cycles, with interim reviews, to provide greater continuity and support strategic infrastructure delivery.

Innovation at the Core

Regulatory reform must be paired with technological innovation. Compared to other sectors like energy, water has been slower to adopt new technologies.

Future Water is championing a dedicated framework to accelerate the adoption of innovations such as:

Smart metering

Advanced leak detection

Water recycling solutions

Smart meters alone could transform water management, but adoption remains low. We’re pushing for standardisation and interoperability to improve rollout and unlock the full value of digital infrastructure.

With greater digitalisation, cybersecurity has become a pressing issue. We’ve highlighted the need for strong governance to protect data integrity and critical systems.

A push for environmentally aligned infrastructure

From SuDS and nutrient neutrality to water reuse, Future Water is advocating for frameworks that empower local authorities and developers to adopt sustainable solutions.

We’re also pushing for better alignment between regulatory incentives and environmental targets, ensuring that infrastructure investment supports both performance and long-term resilience.

Future Water Working Groups

Our advocacy is driven by expert-led working groups, each focused on key transformation areas:

Networks November – Enhancing the sustainability and resiliency of our water networks

IP & Innovation – Advancing new technologies

Digital Transformation & Cyber – Supporting secure digital adoption

Regulations & Standards – Evolving policy and frameworks

Leakage – Promoting smart systems and data use

Development Services – Ensuring integrated housing and water infrastructure

Metering – Driving standards and smart meter rollout

Insights – Using data to inform decisions and public communication

Looking Ahead

Future Water’s contribution to the Water Commission is built on collaboration. By uniting stakeholders across the sector, we are shaping meaningful reform to prepare the industry for future demands.

This blog has been featured in the Copper Consultancy led 'Copper Watch' water newsletter.