Board Meetings

Minutes of the meeting held at 11:30 on 28 May 2024 at CCW offices, 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham

Present:-

CCW Board:

• Mike Keil
• Bev Keogh
• Rob Light (Chair)
• Lisa Tennant
• Rhodri Williams (for items 8 to 17/24 below only)
• Rob Wilson

Boardroom Apprentice: Sue Pitcher

CCW staff:

• Helen Brown, Director of Consumer Relations
• Gemma Domican, Director of Transformation, Strategy and People
• Jenny Suggate, Interim Director of Policy, Research and Campaigns
• Alison Townsend, Board Secretary

1/24 Welcome, introduction and apologies

1.1 The Chair welcomed everyone present to the meeting. Apologies for absence had been received from Rachel Onikosi. Prior to the meeting the Board had participated in an informal session that had looked at proposals for ARID (Accelerating Reduction in Demand).

1.2 The Chair congratulated Rob Wilson on his recent appointment as CCW Chair from 6 June 2024. The Chair gave a brief introduction to the meeting and reflected on the key items of business for the Board that day.

2/24 Declarations of Interest

2.1 There were no declarations of interest relevant to the matters before the Board.

3/24 Minutes, matters arising and outstanding actions & Committee minutes

Board Minutes

3.1 The Board agreed the minutes of its meeting held on 26 March 2024 as a true record.

Outstanding Actions and Electronic Business

3.2 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on progress with actions from past meetings and items of electronic business. Three actions were due to be discharged.

The Board agreed to discharge the action at previous minute reference 91.2/23, 94.2/23, and 99.4/23.

4/24 Board Burning Issues

No issues were raised by Board members.

5/24 Chief Executive’s Update

5.1 The Board considered and noted an update by the Chief Executive on current operational matters at CCW. The Chief Executive gave a brief supplementary update that included:-

• the PR24 Draft Determinations announcement had been moved to 11 July 2024 because of the General Election and associated purdah restrictions. The Board noted that discussions were ongoing with Ofwat in relation to C-MeX. While it was clear that C-MeX would not be part of the Draft Determinations this did not mean it could not be in the Final Determinations. The Board agreed that CCW should continue to push for C-MeX;
• the latest Water Matters research had been published the previous week and the headline finding had been historically low level of trust in the water sector. The Board discussed how CCW could use this research to bring change in the sector and noted that the research was used in a number of ways including to frame CCW’s communications around the PR24 draft determinations;
• improvements were starting to be seen in Thames Water’s complaints handling performance although there was still a lot of work to be done; there were also concerns about the performance of SES and Yorkshire Water in this area; and
• Anglian Water had appointed a new CEO who would take up post from 1 August.

6/24 Forward Work Programme Update

6.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on the delivery of CCW’s Forward Work Programme (FWP) and associated issues. The Board was updated on a number of issues including:-

• the GSS campaign had been delayed because of the General Election purdah restrictions; and
• a revised change request had been submitted to Ofwat to enable annual credit refunds for business customers.

6.2 The Board went on to discuss the issues raised in the report and asked:-

• the Board asked about Ofwat’s Your Water Your Say sessions and was advised that these had been deferred because of the delays to the PR24 Draft Determinations because of the General Election (minute 5.1 above also refers);
• what was different in the new Thames Water vulnerability strategy, this would be looked into; and Action: J Suggate
• what CCW was doing to get Thames Water to change its approach to compensation for their Guildford/Godalming water supply interruption incident from November 2023. The Board was updated on discussions with Thames Water and the actions it was taking; CCW had held a customer drop in session earlier in the month to meet with affected customers.

7/24 Business Services Update

7.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on issues for the Business Services team. The Board heard that:-

• the March 2024 year end outturn had been spend of £7.054m against an original budget of £7.060m producing an underspend of £6k. The prior year underspend of £67k had not been utilised;
• work was underway to draft the 2023/24 Annual Report and Accounts;
• Defra had given retrospective approval for the spend on the IT Managed Services Provide contract (past minute 99.6/23 refers). A lessons learned exercise had been completed and would be presented to the Audit and Risk Management Committee;
• CCW had been subject to four instances of Direct Debit mandate fraud. The matter had been reported to Defra and additional daily checks had been implemented to identify and potential attempts at an early stage. The Board suggested CCW should move to standing orders for regular payments but noted that that would not prevent a third party attempting to set up a fraudulent direct debit; and
• work was underway to roll out new encrypted laptops to staff. A number of IT related cost savings had been identified and were being implemented;

8/24 CCW planned Communications for PR24 draft determinations

8.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that outlined plans for CCW’s media activity after the publication of P$24 draft determinations by Ofwat. As reported earlier in the meeting the publication date had been moved to 11 July because of the purdah restrictions associated with the General Election.

8.2 The Board heard about work underway to brief the media about the likely bill impact and how the Water Matters research that had been recently published would be used to frame the communications. A number of likely scenarios had been identified to guide the development of messaging; work would continue to build and strengthen the messaging ahead of 11 July. The Board asked how customer views of the Draft Determinations would be tested and was updated on research planned to look into this.

9/24 One Stop Shop – four month review

9.1 The Board received a presentation that updated it on the four month review of the One Stop Shop. The Board noted that the key change been had been a reduction in the number of cases going to ADR than prior to the introduction of the One Stop Shop; the reduction could generally be attributed to the introduction of mediation. The issues identified in the review were briefly outlined to the Board, it was noted that customers had suggested the 35 day timeframe for decision too long and opportunities to reduce this were being explored. The Board discussed issues associated with the presentation:-

• how the recommendations would be prioritised. An action plan was being developed and would be shared with the Industry Advisory Panel;
• if there were companies that were not engaging with the process as well as they could. The Board was advised that a small number of companies were not engaging with the mediation process, work was planned to understand why. The outsourced adjudication provider (DRO) was also experiencing problems engaging with some companies work was taking place to understand if there were common issues.

10/24 Customer Case

10.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that presented an overview of a recent customer case. This was a case where the customer remained dissatisfied with the outcome despite CCW having done a good job for them. The case concerned an unread meter in a large block of residential flats. CCW had secured a reduction of £18,644 for the customer, a managing agent, and a £260 gesture of goodwill. While the customer had wanted more they had accepted the outcome and had not taken the case to ADR. The Board asked if CCW could have done anything differently and was advised that the caseworker had handled the case well.

11/24 Priorities for an incoming Government

11.1 Further to minute 94/23 the Board considered and noted a paper that presented CCW’s asks/offers to a new government. The Board was advised that the list would be used as a ‘menu’ with the topics raised adjusted to suit the situation/who CCW was meeting and was grouped into:-

• big-ticket items
• quick wins
• embryonic thoughts that had not been worked up into policy yet but could be attractive to a new minister to signal they were doing something new

11.2 Since the paper had been drafted and circulated a General Election had been called for 4 July 2024. The Board recognised the uncertainties and opportunities created by the election and its impact on this type of stakeholder engagement and also the need for CCW to be agile and adapt to the situation and opportunities that arose.

11.3 The Board discussed issues associated with the paper:-

• how CCW would make sure that an issue/opportunity fitted with the agreed risk appetite. The Board was advised that some of the matters on this list were included in the Forward Work Programme, for example strengthening GSS. Where more embryonic thinking was were raised it would be made clear that these were not yet agreed policy but more ‘blue sky thinking’. The Board noted that it was also possible that Defra could raise ideas that were not included on the list presented; the Board recognised the list would evolve;
• if the polluter pays principle of funding CCW was included in the list. The Board was advised that this was an aspect of some of the items on the list and that it would be included in the Commercial Opportunities to be presented to the Board in the autumn. The Board suggested that if resourcing was a constraint for CCW it should be highlighted to an incoming Government together with potential solutions; and
• the Board went on to discuss issue around CCW’s independence and how this was impacted by CCW’s relationship with Defra.

12/24 Changes to Board appointments

12.1 The Board considered a paper that sought the Board’s approval to changes to appointments to CCWater Trading Company Limited and the Human Resources and Remuneration Committee. The changes were required as a result of Rob Wilson’s appointment as CCW Chair from 6 June 2024.

The Board agreed that:-

• (i) Rhodri Wilson be appointed as a Director of CCWater Trading Company Limited from 6 June 2024;
• (ii) That Rob Wilson leaves the Human Resources & Remuneration Committee on 6 June 2024 and that Rachel Onikosi takes up the position of Chair of that Committee at that point; and
• (iii) that Bev Keogh be appointed as a member of the Human Resources & Remuneration Committee on 6 June 2024.

13/24 CCW Register of Board Member Interests – annual review

13.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that presented a summary of the Board’s register of interests for 2023/24 which would be referenced in the 2023/24 Annual Report and Accounts. Bev Keogh requested a small adjustment to the summary register presented.

The Board approved the summary register for publication alongside the 2023/24 Annual Report and Accounts subject to the adjustment agreed at the meeting.

14/24 Board Committee Updates

14.1 The Board was updated on the work of the following Board Committees:-

(i) Human Resources & Remuneration Committee, 24 April 2024
14.2 The Board received an overview of the matters discussed that this meeting which had included the 2023/24 performance appraisal and bonus award for the Chief Executive and objectives for 2024/25 and an update on current HR activities.

(ii) Independent Advisory Panel, 1 May 2024

14.3 The Board received an overview of the matters discussed that this meeting which had mainly looked at the four month review of the One Stop Shop (minute 9/24 above also refers).

14.4 The Board received the minutes from the following Board Committees. The Board had been updated on the matters discussed at these meetings at its meeting on 26 March 2024.

• Committee for Wales, 8 March 2024
• Committee for England, 15 March 2024
• Audit & Risk Management Committee, 20 March 2024

15/24 Other Business

Rob Light

15.1 Rob Light indicated that his term as CCW Chair would end on 5 June 2024. He thanked all his Board and Executive colleagues for their support to him and recognised the change that CCW had been through since he joined as Northern Chair in 2015. The Board thanked Rob for his calm, knowledgeable leadership and noted the journey that CCW had been on since he joined.

16/23 Review of Meeting

16.1 The Board briefly reviewed the meeting bearing in mind the agreed Board Principles and CCW’s Values.

17/23 Next meeting

17.1 The next full Board meeting would be at 11.00 on Tuesday 16 July and be held at 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham, B2 4BH.

Meeting close at 13:50

Minutes of the meeting held at 11:30 on 26 March 2024 at CCW offices, 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham

Present:-

CCW Board:

• Mike Keil
• Bev Keogh
• Rob Light (Chair)
• Rachel Onikosi
• Lisa Tennant (joined virtually)
• Rob Wilson

Boardroom Apprentice: Sue Pitcher

CCW staff:

• Ali Bell, Director of Communications
• Helen Brown, Director of Consumer Relations
• Gemma Domican, Director of Transformation, Strategy and People
• Steve Hobbs, Senior Leader, Economic Regulation (for items 93/23 only)
• Jenny Suggate, Interim Director of Policy, Research and Campaigns
• Sarah Thomas, Interim Head of Evidence and Insights (for item 95/23 only)
• Alison Townsend, Board Secretary

87/23 Welcome, introduction and apologies

87.1 The Chair welcomed everyone present to the meeting. Apologies for absence had been received from Rhodri Williams.

87.2 Prior to the meeting the Board had participated in an informal session that had explored the implementation of CCW’s IT Strategy and associated issues.

87.3 The Chair gave a brief introduction to the meeting and reflected on the key items of business for the Board that day.

88/23 Declarations of Interest

88.1 Rob Light reported that he had been appointed Employer Member of the Central Arbitration Committee; his entry in the Register of Interests had been updated to reflect this.

89/23 Minutes, matters arising and outstanding actions & Committee minutes

Board Minutes

89.1  The Board agreed the minutes of its meeting held on 24 January and 5 March 2024 as a true record.

Outstanding Actions and Electronic Business

89.2 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on progress with actions from past meetings and items of electronic business.  Six actions were due to be discharged.

The Board agreed to discharge the action at previous minute reference 68.4/23, 69/23, 74.2/23, 76.1/23 (two actions) and 84.7/23.

90/23 CEO Commentary

90.1 The Board considered and noted an update by the Chief Executive on current operational matters at CCW. The Chief Executive gave a brief supplementary update that included:-

• reference had been made to CCW in an article on PR24 in the Financial Times. CCW was not often referenced in this publication; the Communications Team had been working hard to raise CCW’s profile among the wider media;
• discussions were continuing with Ofwat in relation to CMeX. Ofwat had questioned the quality of the data that would support CMeX and suggested it should be delayed while this was addressed; CCW had challenged this;
• CCW had hosted Defra’s Water Branch awayday at 23 Stephenson Street; the Board recognised this as an indicator of an improving relationship with Defra;
• there had been an increase in complaints to CCW since the last meeting which was normal at this time of year due to the annual billing process. The Board heard how resources had been reallocated to balance workloads; and
• the Consumer Relations Team had been shortlisted for two awards, Complaints Team of the Year and Complaints Manager of the Year.

90.2 The Board discussed issues associated with the paper including:-

• if CCW had a Stakeholder Engagement Plan. The Board was advised that a plan was in place at CCW and there were plans for its review; and
• noting that the Policy and Research Team (P&R) was operating at 20% below capacity, what the implications were for key activities. The Board was advised that recruitment to the vacant posts was underway and was assured that the 2024/25 Forward Work Programme was deliverable; the Delivery Plan that supported the FWP had been phased bearing in mind current vacancies.  The Board noted that the P&R Team was generally stable but there had been recent internal movements, for example to backfill until a permanent CEO was in place which, coupled with some departures, had created the problems described.

91/23 Forward Work Programme Update

91.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on the delivery of CCW’s Forward Work Programme (FWP) and associated issues. The Board was updated on a number of issues including:-

• the recommendations from CCW’s assessment of the PR24 Business Plans (past minute 76/23 refers) had been published;
• further to CCW’s five year review of the Non Household Retail Market a case had been submitted to Ofwat to make wholesalers subject to binding decisions if customer complaints reach the ADR stage; this currently only applies to retailers;
• two best practice workshops had been held by the Social Policy Team on vulnerability and incidents;
• CCW had taken part in a catastrophic supply scenario workshop.

91.2 The Board went on to discuss the issues raised in the report and asked:-

• if there was an equivalent to the Minister for Energy Consumers and Affordability in water; this would be explored Action: A Bell
• the background to the CCW’s research that had found that there was an appetite for utilising more natural approaches to help tackle challenges like flooding and river pollution, particularly given these solutions were often more costly and given the current cost of living crisis. The Board noted that although the research was not completed in the context of a price review and had not included willingness to pay it had demonstrated the value placed on nature based solutions;
• if the 12% increase in MOSL’s charges to retailers and wholesalers was reasonable. The Board was advised that the proposal had been included in MOSL’s business plan which was approved by its members and CCW was not entitled to vote on the matter.  The Board was assured that a robust discussion had taken place with the MOSL CEO about its role and the increase in charges; and
• the cost of the research into the Camberley incident. The research cost £40k and the costs were split equally with Ofwat.

92/23 Business Services Update

92.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on issues for the Business Services team. The Board heard that:-

• the 2022/23 Annual Report and Accounts had been laid before Parliament the previous week;
• the 2023/24 end of year position was expected to be £72k underspend which was approximately 1% of the total budget. The year end process would start the following week;
• discussions were still taking place to agree exit costs with Capita; £48k would be accrued for this item; and
• a lot of procurement work was underway with the aim of getting ahead with procurement activity rather than operating reactively.

92.2 The Board discussed the issues raised in the paper and asked:-

• if the Capita exit costs had been accounted for or if they would need to be covered by the underspend. The Board noted that a provision for the exit costs had been made although the figure was still under negotiation; if an agreement was not reached by the end of the financial year an accrual of the best estimate figure would be made; and
• how many ADR contracts had not been returned by water companies. The information was not available in the meeting and would be provided to the meeting of the Industry Advisory Panel scheduled for later that week.

93/23 Review against CCW’s PR24 objectives

93.1 The Board considered and noted a presentation that considered progress against each of the six PR24 objectives that had been agreed by the Board (minute 9/22 refers). The presentation included a heat map that illustrated how each company was performing against the objectives. The Board noted that some company business plans suggested that the objectives would be met but CCW had concerns about deliverability; these were marked on the heat map.

93.2 The Board discussed issues associated with the presentation including:-

• why companies would sign up to eliminating water poverty when economic factors meant that this was outside of their control. The Board noted that companies had made a public commitment to eliminate water poverty in 2019 and the good companies were abiding by this;
• support for the worst served customers and what this meant in practice; and
• lessons that could be learned from the energy sector in relation to smart meters.

93.3 The Board noted that overall 44% of the measures were considered to be have been achieved compared to the 75% target. The Board noted that it was likely that this number would increase by the point at which Draft Determinations were issued.

94/23 CCW’s priorities for an incoming government – England and Wales

94.1 The Board considered a paper that presented a menu of matters/areas for potential change to be raised with an incoming Government. The list would be discussed with Defra to gauge appetite/insight ahead of any discussions with politicians.

94.2 The Board discussed the list, the background to some of the items included on it and the timescales for potentially influencing election manifesto commitments. The Board challenged the level of ambition behind the priorities set out and was advised that the a number of the items included, for example ‘Improve the response to homes being flooded with sewage’ would be big issues for water companies and have a significant impact on customers. The Board went on to discuss CCWs interactions with the political parties and noted that CCW had been engaging when opportunities arose and that the priorities set out in the paper could be selected from to suit the situation/opportunity. The Board asked the paper be reviewed/repositioned and presented to the next Board meeting. Action: A Bell

94.3 A potential policy opportunity relating to Water Company structures was proposed by a Board member; the issues associated with the suggestion would be explored/evaluated further and brought back to the Board at a future date. Action: J Suggate

95/23 Research & Consultancy Programme 2024/25

95.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the 2024/25 research and consultancy programme to the Board for approval. The Board noted that large research projects, that had already received business case approval from the Board, made up a significant proportion of the research programme. The Board received a brief overview of the Water Voice and Affordability Research projects that were currently in development. The Board enquired if CCW’s small size and budget impacted the quality of research agencies it could work with and was advised that bidders were usually high quality with experience of working with other large/significant organisations.

The Board approved the 2024/25 Research and Consultancy Programme as presented.

96/23 Burning Issues for Board Members not otherwise on the agenda

96.1 No issues were raised.

97/23 2024 Board Effectiveness Survey

97.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the report of the 2024 Board Effectiveness Survey. The Board noted that the scores for most questions had improved since the last survey and the Chair indicated that the supplementary comments that had been provided by Board Members were very helpful.

The Board asked that the survey be passed to the new CCW Chair when they are confirmed for consideration/action as appropriate. Action: A Townsend

98/23 Strategic Risk Register: high rated risks

98.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that presented the high rated risks extracted from CCW’s risk register. The Board noted that the full register was presented to the Audit and Risk Management Committee at each of its meetings. The Board discussed the following points:-

• if the letter sent by Esther McVey, Minister without Portfolio, referring to proposed research on public bodies that deliver public services to ensure they are delivering the best possible value and referenced in the CEO Update should be included on the register. The Board was advised that existing risk 002, Government Decision to close CCW, covered this matter;
• if a crisis communications plan was in place at CCW. The Board was advised that Business Continuity and Operational Emergency Plans were in place which included aspects of Communications;
• if risk 002, Government Decision to close CCW, covered a situation where CCW merged with another organisation. This would be considered as part of the regular process to review the register. Action: A Townsend
• with reference to risk 019, CCW experiences difficulties recruiting the right people/filling vacancies, if CCW should accept that it’s turnover was increasing and its staff base was no longer stable and that new solutions were needed. The Board was advised that budget for agency staff had been increased in 2024/25 in recognition of this.

99/23 Board Committees

99.1 The Board received an update on the work of the following Board Committees:-

Independent Advisory Panel, 25 January 2024

99.2 The Board considered the minutes of the meeting of the Independent Advisory Panel (IAP) held on 25 January 2024 and received an update on its work from Bev Keogh. The Board heard that this had been the Panel’s first formal meeting and the issues discussed had included an overview of the performance of the ADR scheme since its launch in December 2023, feedback from the industry on the scheme which had been positive and receipt of a handover document from the former ADR Panel to the IAP.

Committee for Wales 8 March 2024

99.3 The Board received a brief overview of the matters discussed at the Committee for Wales held on 8 March 2024. The Committee had explored what excellent customer service should look like in the water sector. It had been an excellent meeting and speakers had included Huntswood who had presented its latest complaints outlook report, DRO who operated the ADR scheme for the water sector and Sue Purnell who had worked on the turnaround of complaint handling at SSE.

Human Resources & Remuneration Committee, 13 March 2024

99.4 The Board considered the minutes of the meeting of the Human Resources & Remuneration Committee held on 13 March 2024. Matters discussed had included the results of the 2024 staff survey, a new recognition strategy and an overview of the SPRING appraisal system. It was suggested that the Transformation Team could take one of the informal slots at the start of the meeting to update on its work; this would be scheduled. Action: A Townsend

Committee for England, 15 March 2024

99.5 The Board received a brief overview of the matters discussed at the Committee for England held on 15 March 2024. The Committee had taken the same topic as the Committee for Wales (minute 99.3/23 above refers) and explored what excellent customer service should look like in the water sector. The speakers had been the same for both meetings except that the Committee for England had heard from the Institute of Customer Services rather than Sue Purnell.

Audit & Risk Management Committee, 20 March 2024

99.6 The Board received a brief overview of the matters discussed at the Audit and Risk Management Committee held on 20 March 2024. The key discussions had covered the approval of the 2024/25 Internal Audit Plan, the 2022/23 Annual Report and Accounts had been signed by the C&AG and laid before Parliament, RSM had shared examples of SMART objectives that could be used by Board Members; and CCW had reported an item of irregular expenditure to the Committee. The Board discussed the background to the irregular expenditure and noted that a lessons learned exercise would take place.

100/23 Other Business

100.1 There were no other items of business for the Board.

101/23  Review of Meeting

101.1 The Board briefly reviewed the meeting bearing in mind the agreed Board Principles and CCW’s Values.

102/23  Next meeting

102.1 The next full Board meeting would be at 11.00 on Tuesday 28 May and be held at 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham, B2 4BH.  [post meeting note: the start time for this meeting was subsequently brought forward to 10:00]

Meeting closed at 15:50

Minutes of the meeting held at 11:00 on 5 March 2024.
Meeting held virtually

Present:-

CCW Board: 

• Mike Keil (for item 84/23 (part) to 86/23 only)
• Bev Keogh
• Rob Light (Chair)
• Rachel Onikosi
• Lisa Tennant
• Rob Wilson

CCW staff:

• Helen Brown, Director of Consumer Relations
• Gemma Domican, Director of Transformation, Strategy and People
•  Simon Millward, Director of Business Services
• Jenny Suggate, Interim Director of Policy, Research & Campaigns
• Alison Townsend, Board Secretary

82/23 Welcome, introduction and apologies

82.1 The Chair welcomed all present to the meeting.  There were no apologies for absence.

83/23 Declarations of Interest

83.1 There were no declarations of interest relevant to the matters before the Board.

83.2 Rob Wilson reported that he had been appointed to the Board of Element 2 from February 2024. Rachel Onikosi reported that she had been appointed as a UK Psychotherapy Council Lay Panel Chair from December 2023.

84/23 2023/24 Strategic Planning

(i) CCW Forward Work Programme 2024/25

84.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the proposed Forward Work Programme (FWP) for 2024/25. At its meeting in November 2023 the Board had considered a previous draft of the FWP and approved the document for public consultation (minute 49/23 refers).

84.2 The consultation had closed on 13 February 2024. The Board noted that the number of consultation responses was higher than the previous year and were generally supportive. A summary of all comments received, together with detail of CCW’s response to each, was annexed to the paper. Some adjustments had been made to the strategy to respond to comments, these were generally to provide more clarity; the adjustments had been shared with Defra and Welsh Government who had made no further comments. Board was updated on the responses received. The Board noted that a letter would be sent to all respondees to let them know how their comments had been addressed.

84.3 The Board reviewed the consultation responses and was pleased that responses had been received from organisations that had not previously engaged in this process. The Board noted that none of the responses had suggested additions to the strategy and noted that while there had been no suggestions about additional content there had been questions about the delivery of the strategy which had taken on board in the development of the delivery plan.

84.4 The Board noted that the final Forward Work Programme would be published on 28 March 2024.

The Board:

(i) approved the Forward Work Programme 2024/25;

(ii) delegated authority to approve any final minor amendments to the Chair and Chief Executive; and

(ii) 2024/25 Budget Proposals

84.5 The Board considered a paper that presented the 2024/25 licence fee and budget and the supporting budget assumptions to the Board for approval. The paper proposed a 4.1% inflationary increase in the licence fee which equated to a 1.1 pence increase on each bill. The budget had been subject to consultation alongside the 2023/24 FWP (minutes 84.1 to 81.5 above refers). The assumptions underpinning the budget were briefly outlined to the Board.

84.6 The Board discussed the paper and the assumptions supporting the budget particularly:-

• why no figure was included against the ADR/Thames Income line in 2023/23. The Board was advised that this line had not been included in 2023/24 and had been identified as a transparency issue in the 2023/24 financial audit; the figure was included for 2024/25  to respond to a change in approach;
• the basis of the contract with Thames Water for financial support for the Consumer Relations function. The Board heard that previously Thames Water had agreed to fund additional resource for CCW via Huntswood to cover the additional burden caused by the number of complaints relating to the company.  From February this approached had changed to a contract with Thames Water to fund additional staff; Defra had agreed to raise CCW’s headcount to cover these staff;
• if any other companies were likely to be required to pay for the burden caused by their complaints and what the trigger for such payments was. The Board noted that some United Utilities and Severn Trent were being monitored but while their complaints had increased they were not currently having a significant impact on CCW; should this situation change then CCW would open a conversation with them about funding;
• why the training budget was lower than in 2023/24. The Board heard that some of the planned training had been brought forward into 2023/24 and also some of the training spend had been diverted to recruitment to address recent problems; and
• why the office support costs had doubled. The Board noted that this line included the enhanced call handling contract previously agreed by the Board.  (minute 75/23 refers).

84.7 The Board suggested it would be useful to do a deep dive into the situation with Thames Water. Action: H Brown

The Board approved a budget of £7,356,870 and the Licence Fee of £7,346,870 for 2024/5.

85/23 Other Business

85.1 There were no other items of business for the Board.

86/23 Next meeting

86.1 The next Board meeting would be at 11.00 on Tuesday 26 March 2024.

Minutes of the meeting held at 11:30 on 23 January 2024 at CCW offices, 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham

Present:-

CCW Board:

• Mike Keil
• Bev Keogh (virtual)
• Rob Light (Chair)
• Lisa Tennant
• Rhodri Williams
• Rob Wilson

Boardroom Apprentice: Sue Pitcher

CCW staff: 

• Ali Bell, Director of Communications
• Helen Brown, Director of Consumer Relations
• Gemma Domican, Director of Transformation, Strategy and People
• Steve Hobbs, Senior Leader, Economic Regulation (for items 76 & 77/23 only)
• Wendy Marinos (for items 74 & 75/23 only)
• Usha Nayyar, Finance Manager (for item 72/23 only)
• Jenny Suggate, Interim Director of Policy, Research and Campaigns (for items 66 to 77/23 only)
• Alison Townsend, Board Secretary
• Andy White, Senior Leader, Social Policy (for item 77/23 only)

66/23 Welcome, introduction and apologies

66.1 The Chair welcomed everyone present to the meeting and particularly Sue Pitcher who had joined the Board as part of the 2024 Boardroom Apprentice initiative.  Apologies for absence had been received from Rachel Onikosi.

66.2 Prior to the meeting the Board had participated in an informal session that had explored the use of social media by Board Members.

66.3 The Chair gave a brief introduction to the meeting and reflected on the key items of business for the Board that day.

67/23 Declarations of Interest

67.1 Lisa Tennant reported that she had been appointed Chair of the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency; her entry in the Register of Interests had been updated to reflect this.

67.2  Rob Light reported that appointed Non-Executive Chair of the National Police Chiefs Council, Audit and Assurance Board; his entry in the Register of Interests had been updated to reflect this.

68/23  Minutes, matters arising and outstanding actions & Committee minutes

Board Minutes

68.1 The Board agreed the minutes of its meeting held on 28 November and 5 December 2023 as a true record.

68.2 Further to minute 63.1/23 Rob Light reported that his term as Chair of the CCW Board had been extended to 5 June 2024 while the process to appoint his successor was completed.  The Board noted that the delay to the Chair process had impacted the timetable for the recruitment of a new Chief Executive.

Outstanding Actions and Electronic Business

68.2 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on progress with actions from past meetings and items of electronic business.  Three actions were due to be discharged.

The Board agreed to discharge the action at previous minute reference 48/23, 49/23 and 51/23.

Board Committees

(a) Human Resources & Remuneration Committee, 24 November 2023

68.3 The Board received the minutes of the meeting of the Human Resources and Remuneration Committee held on 24 November 2023; it had received an oral update on the matters discussed at those meetings at its meeting on 28 November 2023.

(b) Audit and Risk Management Committee, 13 December 2023

68.4 The Board received a brief overview of the matters discussed at the Audit and Risk Management Committee held on 13 December.  This had been the last meeting for the former Committee Chair, Alison Austin, and the Committee had thanked her for her leadership.  Matters considered by the Committee had included:-

• a nugget training session that had explored good governance principles;
• consideration of an internal audit report that had examined the process for Board Appraisals. A copy of the report would be shared with the wider Board; Action: A Townsend
• the review of the risk register; and
• an update on Freedom of Information (FOI) update particularly an investigation that the ICO had accepted into FOI a response in which CCW had indicated it did not hold the requested information.

68.5 The Board asked about the position with the finalisation of the 2022/23 Annual Report and Accounts (ARA) and noted that comments had been received from Defra and NAO and the document was now awaiting sign off from the Secretary of State before it could be laid.  The Board was disappointed that the ARA had not yet been laid and heard that the Audit & Risk Management Committee had consistently raised this matter with NAO.  The Board suggested a letter be sent to NAO once the ARA had been laid.

69/23 Board Burning Issues

69.1 The Chair introduced this item and the Board went on to explore how issues around the water sector and potential reform might feature in the lead-up to the General Election.  The Board asked if CCW would be seeking to influence party manifestos and noted that approaches had been made but there had been no response.  This matter would be included for further discussion on the agenda for the March Board.  Action: A Townsend

70/23  CEO Commentary

70.1 The Board considered and noted an update by the Chief Executive on current operational matters at CCW.  The Chief Executive gave a brief supplementary update that included:-

• a recent meeting with David Black, Ofwat, where matters discussed had included complaint levels and CMeX. The Board noted that there had been a suggestion that Ofwat might move its position on CMeX; the Board would be updated on this matter as it developed;
• a positive meeting with the Permanent Secretary in December 2023;
• work within Defra to prepare for the potential failure of Thames Water. The Board noted that, in the event of a failure CCW’s role would be to reassure customers that their taps wouldn’t run dry and that a focus on delivery was maintained; and
• the improved performance within the Consumer Relations Team had been maintained. The Board was updated on current performance and noted that CCW had changed its approach to the use of its overflow call handling service and asked about the impact this had on performance (minute 75/23 below also refers).  The Board was advised that the new approach had enabled Consumer Relations Advisers to concentrate on dealing with complaints rather than people that CCW couldn’t help, for example customer who had not yet exhausted the company complaints process.
• The Board discussed the position with Thames Water and asked if it was possible that Thames Water could be a catalyst for the failure of other water companies. The Board noted that no other company was as financially vulnerable as Thames Water.

71/23 Forward Work Programme Update

71.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on the delivery of CCW’s Forward Work Programme (FWP) and associated issues.  The Board was updated on a number of issues including:-

• Work on the GSS review was progressing well. CCW had recently updated Defra on this matter which had been positively received;
• Joint research with Ofwat to understand customers’ views of the handling of incidents by companies and views on the communications they had received from water companies. The Board asked if the issues being identified were industry wide or confined to a small number of companies and noted that problems had been found at all companies examined to date; and
• CCW had submitted a request to Ofwat to change the Customer Protection Code of Practice to require retailers to issue at least two bills a year based on actual meter readings rather than the current requirement for one.

71.2 The Board went on to discuss the issues raised in the report and asked if there was still under provision and gaps in support to customers struggling to pay their water bills despite the increased take-up of Social Tariffs or if this had closed. The Board was advised that a large pool of unsupported customers remained and the gap between the number of households in water poverty and those supported by social tariffs was forecast to increase.

72/23 Business Services Update

72.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on issues for the Business Services team.  The Board heard that the projected financial underspend for 2023/24 was currently £92k which was mainly driven by vacancies and lower than expected premises costs.  The Board noted that the Executive Team were currently looking at options to utilise the underspend.  Defra had not yet taken a decision on the use of the underspend from previous financial years.

72.2  The Board discussed the issues raised in the paper and asked:-

• if the Capita exit costs had been accounted for or if they would need to be covered by the underspend. The Board noted that a provision for the exit costs had been made although the figure was still under negotiation; if an agreement was not reached by the end of the financial year an accrual of the best estimate figure would be made; and
• how many ADR contracts had not been returned by water companies. The information was not available in the meeting and would be provided to the meeting of the Industry Advisory Panel scheduled for later that week.

73/23 CCW draft Forward Work Programme 2024/25 – update on public consultation

73.1  The Board received a short oral update on the consultation on the draft Forward Work Programme that had launched on 3 January 2024.  The Board was advised that no changes had been made to the consultation draft other than those agreed at the last Board meeting (minute 49/23 refers).  To date eight consultation responses had been received and the board received a brief overview of these.  Details of all responses would be presented to the Board on 5 March when it will consider the final draft of the document.

74/23 Customer Case

74.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that presented an overview of a recent customer case that demonstrated the problems that can be caused by the lack of flexibility and empowerment in the front line at Thames Water.  The Board noted that CCW used cases such as this with companies both on a 1:1 basis and in wider industry forums to drive positive change.

74.2 The Board discussed the issues raised by the case and particularly:-

• asked if a vulnerability charter or similar was in place for the water sector; the current position on this would be checked. The Board noted that the handling of vulnerable customers was one of the aspects of the new complaints assessment process, Action: J Suggate; and
• if CCW examined the costs of the end to end complaints process, the Board suggested that understanding this could help CCW drive down complaint numbers. The Board heard that work had been completed to understand CCW’s costs but it would be a significant piece of work to understand end to end costs; further consideration would be given to this. Action: H Brown

75/23 Business Case: outsourced call handling service

75.1 The Board considered a paper that presented a business case for an enhanced outsourced contact centre service.  The Board heard that an overflow call handling service had been in place at CCW for some time. CCW had recently been trialling a different approach to the use of the service in order to provide a better service for customers.  The paper presented three options and recommended that CCW procure an enhanced outsourced service for an initial period of one year with a view to extending the contract for a further year subject to a review of the continued benefits to CCW.

75.2 Under the proposed arrangements the outsourced call handling service would take incoming calls and, for example, explain the process to customers that had not exhausted the company complaints process.  This would free up CCW’s advisers to deal with complaint handling and company liaison.  The arrangements had been trialled and had been a key element in addressing the performance of the Consumer Relations Team.  A bespoke contract for the work would enable the position to be maintained and would give CCW guaranteed resource availability.

75.2 The Board reviewed and discussed the proposal:-

• if the function could be brought back in house if CCW had an increased resource. The Board heard that outsourcing was an effective way of operating where the issues being dealt with were straightforward.  While the proposed contract was for the provision of five staff the provider would need to staff at a higher level than that to provide a continuous service.  If CCW were to bring the function back in house more than five members of staff would be needed so that absences were covered;
• what the forecast contract costs were. The Board noted that costs were estimated at £300k per annum based on the current contract.  The contract was being tendered so that CCW could get better value for money from a bespoke contract.  The Board noted that the proposal was for a one year contract with the option to extend for a further year and suggested that, if performance was satisfactory, the extension could be for a longer period;
• if companies that were performing badly could be required to contribute to the costs. The Board noted that this approach was under review;
• if this provided an opportunity to upskill CCW’s staff. It was confirmed that this was the intended approach; and
• if the contract might provide an opportunity to extend CCW’s operating window; this would be explored in the tender process.

The Board agreed that CCW should procure an enhanced outsourced call handing service for an initial period of one year, with a view to extending for up to a further two years, subject to satisfactory performance and continued benefits to CCW.

76/23 CCW’s review of PR24 business plans – our views and recommendations for Ofwat

76.1 The Board considered a paper that set out CCW’s messages/
recommendations to Ofwat arising from an assessment of the 2024 business plan submissions.  The Board heard that meetings had taken place with all companies at which CCW’s position had been shared, discussions had also included the implications of the statutory investment programme and the trade-offs companies had made as a result of these requirements.  The Board noted that reports had been drawn up for each individual company; examples of these would be shared with the Board. Action: S Hobbs

76.2 The Board discussed the issues raised in the report and the recommendations to Ofwat:-

• if there were any companies, other than Thames Water, where there were concerns about the financiability of the plans. The Board was advised that there issues relating to the financiability of plans at several companies but Thames Water and Southern Water were the most significant;
• if the plans were deliverable. The Board heard that in a number of cases the current level of company performance did not match the ambitions set out in their business plans.  There were also external factors such as the availability of contractors and smart meters that could impact delivery; some companies were taking action to mitigate these risks, for example by training apprentices;
• the context of the recommendation about ending water poverty and if companies had made a commitment to eliminate water poverty. The Board was advised that all companies, except for Welsh Water, had signed up to the Water UK Public Interest Commitment on water poverty by 2030, but some were more proactive in this area than others.  The aim of the recommendation was to get the companies falling behind to raise their ambition;
• if it was the right time to review the role of Independent Challenge Groups or if it might be better to complete this work at a later stage. The Board was updated to the background of the review and it’s timing;
• noting that previous announcements about bill rises had quoted prices before inflation was added, if CCW should be asking for these communications to include reasonable inflation. It was confirmed that it was planned to make this request;
• if research had been carried out to understand what customers were prepared to pay for. The Board noted that research had revealed that while levels of acceptability of company plans were high the affordability of those plans was low.  The Board went on to explore what it’s messaging might be on this matter and noted that the planned Draft Determination testing would provide the evidence to support communications.  There was a recognition that companies were required to include a larger number of statutory items in their business plans for this price review than previously.

76.3 The Chair summarised the discussions and recognised that work on the price review would continue and that the Board would have further opportunities to discuss the issues and CCW’s messaging further at future meetings.  The report and recommendations would be updated to reflect some of the issues raised at the meeting.  The Board thanks all those that had been involved in this piece of work.

The Board approved the report ‘CCW’s review of water companies’ 2025-30 Business Plans’ and associated recommendations for submission to Ofwat subject to its adjustment to reflect discussions at the meeting.

77/23 2024/25 charges

77.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that summarised the final bill positions for 2024/25, the Board had previously considered this matter at its meeting on 28 November 2023 (minute 51/23 refers).  The Board noted that bill increases for most companies were around the level of inflation and the paper included an assessment of the typical bill change for metered and unmetered customers at each company.

77.2 The Board discussed the paper and:-

• noted that the increase for unmeasured customers at Severn Trent and Hafren Dyfrdw were significantly higher than that for measured customers
• asked if the figures for South West Water (SWW) took into account the £50 Government rebate. It was confirmed that this was the case and SWW bills would be higher without the rebate; and
• why the Welsh Water increase was negative. The Board was advised that this was the impact of ODI penalties that were feeding through.

78/23 Escalation Framework Review

78.1 The Board received a presentation that looked at those issues that were at all three levels on CCW’s escalation framework and how this had changed since the last update of this type in July 2023.

78.2 The Board received a brief overview of the escalation framework and the profile of the escalated issues.  The Board noted that escalated issues presented included both newly escalated items and other longer term issues.  The Board heard that the enforcement action by Ofwat relating to concerns that some sewage treatment works were breaching their environmental permits remained ongoing.

78.3 The Board received an update on the escalated for each company and discussed issues raised in the presentation particularly:-

• noting that South East Water (SEW) was at level 1 because of supply interruption, if it was likely that it could make the changes required improve. The Board heard that SEW had network problems that had arisen from the way that network had developed and this would take time to address;
• a Complaint Assessment was due to take place at Thames Water later that week. The Board asked for an update on emerging finding/themes from this work; this would be scheduled for the May 2024 Board. Action: H Brown

• the Board noted that the SES group had recently been sold to Pennon; it was hoped that the new ownership would deliver change for the organisation;
• the Board asked if there was a sense that the business market was changing. The Board was directed to CCW’s five year review of the market that had suggested that a number of things would need to change before the market could be seen to be working for customers.

79/23 Other Business

79.1 There were no other items of business for the Board.

80/23 Review of Meeting

80.1 The Board briefly reviewed the meeting bearing in mind the agreed Board Principles and CCW’s Values.

81/23  Next meeting

81.1 The next full Board meeting would be at 11.00 on Tuesday 26 March 2024 and be held at 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham, B2 4BH, there would also be a short virtual meeting at 11:00 on Tuesday 5 March.

Meeting closed at 15:55

11:30 on 28 November 2023 at CCW offices, 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham

Present:

CCW Board:

• Alison Austin
• Mike Keil
• Bev Keogh
• Rob Light (Chair)
• Rachel Onikosi
• Rhodri Williams
• Rob Wilson (for item 43/23 onwards)

CCW staff:

• Ali Bell, Director of Communications
• Hannah Bradley, Interim Head of Policy Delivery (for items 52 to 54/23 below only)
• Helen Brown, Director of Consumer Relations
• [redacted: personal information] Research and Insight Manager (for items 52 to 54/23 below only)
• Gemma Domican, Executive Head of Transformation, Strategy and People
• [redacted: personal information] Senior Leader, Economic Regulation (for item 50/23 below only)
• Simon Millward, Executive Head of Business Services
• Jenny Suggate, Interim Director of Policy, Research and Campaigns
• Sarah Thomas, Interim Head of Evidence and Insights (for items 51 to 54/23 below only)
• Alison Townsend, Board Secretary
• [redacted: personal information] Senior Leader, Social Policy (for item 51/23 below only)

41/23 Welcome, introduction and apologies

41.1 The Chair welcomed everyone present to the meeting. Apologies for absence had been received from Lisa Tennant.

41.2 The Chair welcomed Jenny Suggate to her first meeting since being appointed Interim Director of Policy Research and Campaigns and Mike Keil to his first meeting as Interim Chief Executive.

41.3 The Chair reported that since the last meeting Rhodri Williams had been reappointed for a further three year term and that this would be Alison Austin’s last Board meeting before she left the CCW Board at the end of December 2023. The Board noted that the recent appointment of a new Secretary of State for the Environment had resulted in a delay to the process to recruit a new Chair for CCW of around four weeks.

41.4 Prior to the meeting the Board had received an informal update on the launch of the One Stop Shop at CCW including Alternative Dispute Resolution for the water sector.

41.5 The Chair gave a brief introduction to the meeting and reflected on the key items of business for the Board that day.

42/23 Declarations of Interest

42.1 Rob Light declared an interest in relation to the report at item 46/23 below headed Forward Work Programme Delivery Update, particularly item paragraph 31 that referred to refunds for business customers that had been overcharged. Rob advised that he had been the recipient of a refund of this type. The interest was not considered significant and he remained in the meeting and the Chair for the consideration of the item.

43/23 Minutes, matters arising and outstanding actions & Committee minutes
Board Minutes

43.1 The Board agreed the minutes of its meeting held on 26 September 2023 as a true record. There were no matters arising from the minutes not covered elsewhere on the agenda for this meeting.

Outstanding Actions and Electronic Business

43.2 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on progress with actions from past meetings and items of electronic business. Two actions were due to be discharged.

The Board agreed to discharge the action at previous minute reference 20.4 and 35.5/23.

Board Committees

(a) Committee for England, 15 September 2023

(b) Human Resources & Remuneration Committee, 22 September 2023

(c) Committee for Wales, 22 September 2023

43.3 The Board received the minutes of the meetings at (a) to (c) above; it had received an oral update on the matters discussed at those meetings at its meeting on 26 September 2023 (minute 30/23 refers).

(d) Audit and Risk Management Committee, 4 October 2023

43.4 The Board received a brief overview of the matters discussed at the Audit and Risk Management Committee held on 4 October which had included the draft Audit Completion Report from the NAO. The Board was briefly updated on the progress of the 2022/23 financial audit.

(e) Shadow Industry Advisory Panel, 24 October 2023

43.5 The Board received a short update on the first meeting of the new Industry Advisory Panel. Matters discussed had included an update on the preparations for the launch of the One Stop Shop, the governance of the panel and arrangement for its future meetings. The Panel had been joined by DRO, the outsourced ADR provider, who had given a short presentation that had explored how it would work with CCW as well as its work in other sectors and the successes it had achieved.

44/23 Board Burning Issues

44.1 The Chair introduced this new item and explained that he saw it as an opportunity for Board members to bring up matters relevant to the Board and CCW. Alison Austin updated the Board on Ofwat’s Innovation Fund and her involvement with it. The Board discussed:-

• noting that Alison Austin would be leaving the Board at the end of December 2023, how CCW would keep an eye on this area going forward. This would be raised with Ofwat;
• how CCW could encourage/facilitate innovation and heard how CCW offered support to companies looking to innovate, for example tariff innovation; and
• the Board agreed that companies should be embracing innovation throughout their whole operation

44.2 If there was opportunity for CCW to engage with the new Secretary of State and reset relationships; this was recognised as an opportunity and would be taken forward as appropriate. The Board noted that CCW continued to engage with Defra at an officer level in a range of forums.

45/23 CEO Commentary

45.1 The Board considered and noted an update by the Chief Executive on current operational matters at CCW. The Chief Executive gave a brief oral update including:-

• CCW’s annual fuddle was scheduled for 8 December and the Board were encouraged to join if possible;
• the next in person staff event would be on 12 September 2024 and Board members were encouraged to attend;
• since taking up post on 2 October 2023 the Chief Executive had been meeting stakeholders; the initial focus had been with poorer performing companies as well as the Defra Sponsorship Team;
• significant productivity improvements had been achieved in the Consumer Relations team which had addressed the previous backlog. Complaints were currently being allocated to an adviser in seven working days and the One Stop Shop would launch on 1 December 2023.

45.2 The Board discussed the turnaround in Consumer Relations and asked how this had been achieved. The Board heard that the plans that had been put in place were realistic and sustainable and that the removal of the backlog would give space to introduce initiatives that would add further value within the team. The Board asked if thought had been given to extending the ‘polluter pays’ principle in Consumer Relations beyond Thames Water and noted that this was being considered but there were a number of aspects that would need to be fully explored before a decision could be taken on adopting this approach more widely. The Board asked that its congratulations on the turnaround be passed on to staff.

46/23 Forward Work Programme Update

46.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on the delivery of CCW’s Forward Work Programme (FWP) and associated issues. The Board was updated on a number of issues including:-

• CCW’s success in securing refunds for thousands of business customers that had been overcharged by five water retailers that misinterpreted a change to Ofwat’s retail exit code (REC);
• collaborative research work that was underway with Ofwat; a report was due to be published the following Thursday that had looked into customer communications around a boil water notice that had previously been issued by Anglian Water; and
• work continued on PR24 including the second round of the ‘Your Water Your Say’ sessions.

46.2 The Board discussed issues associated with the report including:-

• changes to the UK’s regulatory regime that had been announced in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement that had included references to Ofwat. The Board was assured that CCW would be looking into this matter;
• if it was planned to review how the new Challenge Groups had operated; this was confirmed; and
•  the Board welcomed the refunds for business customers that had been impacted misinterpretations to a change in the REC; the Board noted that the retailers had initially refused to make any refunds and recognised the work that had gone into securing the refunds.

47/23 Business Services Update

47.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on issues for the Business Services team. The Board heard that the projected underspend for 2023/24 was currently £58k; no decision had yet been taken by Defra on the use of the underspend from previous financial years. Work was underway to identify the Capita exit costs. The Board recognised that the new IT system had been introduced seamlessly and asked that its thanks be passed on to the project team.

47.2 The Board discussed issued associated with the report including:-

• how CCW explored efficiency savings. The Board heard that this was an ongoing process and, for example, the IT team were currently exploring savings that could be made from the removal of duplicate IT systems;
• if processes were in place to manage the charges for the ADR process particularly chasing potential debt. The Board was updated on work and discussions that had taken place with water companies and the 30 day terms that were in place. There was a recognition that this was likely to be difficult initially and so CCW had engaged the credit controller that managed the previous ADR contract and had experience in this area.

48/23 2022/23 Annual Report and Accounts

48.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the 2022/23 Annual Report and Accounts (ARA). Five minor adjustments had been made to the ARA since it had been circulated to the Board which were outlined to the Board and did not affect the outturn. A copy of the ARA had been provided to Defra for review and the Board was advised that NAO had not yet completed all of its work.

48.2 The Board was concerned that the Audit had taken a long time and asked if this would be taken up with NAO. It was agreed that it should be raised after the ARA had been finalised and laid; the Board noted that the delays were not entirely NAO’s fault and CCW could have done some things better. The Chair of the Audit Committee reflected that a new team was in place at NAO and that relations with it were significantly better than had been the previous year.

48.3 The Board enquired if it was possible further changes could be made to the ARA; this was confirmed and the Board went on to discuss how these would be signed off.

The Board:-

• (i) approved the 2022/23 Annual Report and Accounts;
• (ii) delegated authority for the Chair and Chief Executive to sign off any minor changes to the Annual Report and Accounts; any substantive changes would be presented to the Board for approval.

49/23 CCW draft Forward Work Programme 2024/25

49.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the draft CCW Forward Work Programme (FWP) for 2024/25; the Board had been involved in the development of the FWP. The document presented a long term strategy for CCW with the FWP contained within it. The Board noted that an inflationary increase in CCW’s budget was proposed although approval was still awaited from Defra Finance to this.

49.2 The Board discussed the document particularly:-

• if references to ‘value for customers’ related to value for money or if this was a wider concept. The Board was advised that this reference related to CCW’s work on the price review and was wider than value for money;
• how CCW communicated what it had achieved as well what it was planning to do. The Board was assured that work on this was underway;
• If reference should be made to CCW’s work in relation to Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs). The Board was advised that this was included in the ‘transparency of performance’ section and went on to debate whether more explicit reference should be made. There was a recognition that while other organisations had a bigger role in this area a reference should be added to this in the ‘Trusted Water Sector’ section.

The Board:-

• (i) approved the draft 2024/25 CCW Forward Work Programme for consultation subject to the addition of the change set out above;
• (ii) delegated authority to approve any final changes to the document made prior to consultation to the Chair and Chief Executive.

50/23 PR24 – overview of business plan submissions

50.1 The Board received and noted a presentation that assessed key areas across all PR24 business plans and gave an initial view of how far they reflected CCW’s PR24 objectives. The presentation included average bill increases for each company and the outcomes of research on affordability and acceptability. The Board received an overview of the assessment of each of the business plans which included a RAG rating for each and an assessment of common themes.

50.2 The Board explored the issues raised in the presentation:-

• if CCW was in a position to rate company performance against their PR19 plans and promises; the Board was advised that Ofwat had done some work in this area;
• the Board noted that business plans were ambitious and asked what action could be taken against companies that consistently failed to deliver. The Board was noted that it was hoped that CCW’s ongoing work on company culture would help in this area.

50.3 The Board would receive a further update on business plans at its next meeting.

51/23 2024 Charges

51.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that set out current indicative charges for 2024/25 and a summary of issues that had emerged from CCW’s discussions with companies on this matter. The Board reviewed the paper and noted that the paper presented average bill increases and asked if information was available on the extremes. This information was not currently available but would be included in the January paper to the Board on this matter. Action: A White

52/23 Value of CCW Research 2021/22

52.1 The Board received and noted a presentation that gave an overview of how the outputs from CCW’s 2021/22 research programme had been utilised and the value gained from it. The Board discussed the presentation particularly:-

• how CCW had found working with Ofwat on joint research. The Board heard that both parties were seeing benefits from this new way of working;
• if checks were made to make sure that research cohorts were representative. The Board was advised that this depended on the approach to be taken to each piece of research, there was a recognition that it was harder to make sure that smaller pieces of research were representative.

53/23 Research Programme update

53.1 The Board received and noted a short presentation that gave an overview of the position with the 2023/24 research programme at mid-year. The Board noted that despite a scaled back budget for 2023/24 the research programme remained ambitious.

54/23 Research Business Cases

(i) Draft Determination Research

54.1 The Board considered a paper that sought the Board’s approval to tender for a market research supplier to survey customer views on Ofwat’s Draft Determinations at an expected cost of £400k including VAT.

The Board agreed that CCW should procure a market research agency to survey customer views on Ofwat’s Draft Determinations at a maximum value of £400k including VAT.

(ii) Testing the Waters

54.2 The Board considered a paper that sought the Board’s approval to tender for a multi-year contract (1 year plus an option to extend for a further year in 2026) for CCW’s Testing the Waters research. The first phase of the project would span two financial years and was estimated to cost £37.5k in 2023/24 and £112.5k in 2024-25. If the second phase of the research were to be taken forward it would be included in the 2026 budget planning process for that period.

The Board agreed that CCW should securing a one year contract 1 for CCW’s Testing the Water’s research with the option to extend for a further year in 2026.

55/23 Risk Appetite

55.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the outcome of the annual review of CCW’s risk appetite to the Board. The review had taken place at an informal Board session its response to a number of fictional scenarios had been explored to test its risk appetite. The Board had then reviewed its risk appetite statement to check it was appropriate for/permitted the actions discussed and agreed a minor change to the Risk Appetite.

The Board approved the updated Risk Appetite Statement.

56/23 Changes to Board Committees

56.1 The Board considered a paper that requested its approval to changes to membership of Board Committees to respond to organisational and Board changes.

The Board agreed that:-

• (i) the Interim Chief Executive is a member of the Committee for England and the Committee for Wales with immediate effect;
• (ii) that Rhodri Williams is Chair of the Audit and Risk Management Committee from 1 January 2024
• (iii) that Rhodri Williams leaves the Human Resources and Remuneration Committee from 1 January 2024
• (iv) That the 2024 Boardroom Apprentice, Sue Pitcher, be invited to join meetings of the HR & Remuneration Committee, Audit & Risk Management Committee and the Committee for England during 2024.

57/23 Board Forward Look

57.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the Forward Look of business for the CCW Board through to March 2025. It was suggested that the Commercial Opportunities paper currently scheduled for January 2024 be rescheduled to May 2024 when the process to recruit a new Chair of CCW should be complete.

The Board approved the Board Forward Look with the addition of the change set out above.

58/23 Other Business

Alison Austin

58.1 The Chair explained that Alison Austin’s term of office with the CCW Board would end at the end of December 2023. The Chair indicated that Alison had made a huge contribution to CCW and the Board during her tenure and passed on the Board’s best wishes for the future. The Chair’s comments were endorsed by the Board.

59/23 Review of Meeting

59.1 The Board briefly reviewed the meeting bearing in mind the agreed Board Principles and CCW’s Values.

60/23 Next meeting

60.1 The next Board meeting would be at 11.00 on Tuesday 23 January 2024 and be held at 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham, B2 4BH.

Meeting close : 16:00

Minutes of the meeting held at 11:30 on 26 September 2023 at CCW offices, 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham

Present:

CCW Board:

• Alison Austin
• Emma Clancy
• Bev Keogh (by videoconference)
• Rob Light (Chair)
• Rachel Onikosi
• Lisa Tennant (for items 28 to 35 and 37/23 only)
• Rhodri Williams
• Rob Wilson (for items 28 to 38/23 only)

CCW staff:

• Ali Bell, Director of Communications
• Helen Brown, Director of Consumer Relations
• Gemma Domican, Executive Head of Transformation, Strategy and People
• Mike Keil, Senior Director of Policy, Research and Campaigns
• Wendy Marinos, Head of Consumer Delivery (for items 33 & 34/23 only)
• Simon Millward, Executive Head of Business Services
• Alison Townsend, Board Secretary

28/23  Welcome, introduction and apologies

28.1 The Chair welcomed everyone present to the meeting.  There were no apologies for absence.

28.2 The Chair gave a brief introduction to the meeting and reflected on the key items of business for the Board that day.

29/23 Declarations of Interest

29.1 There were no declarations of interest relevant to the matters before the Board.

29.2 Rob Wilson reported that he had been appointed Deputy Chair of the Social Mobility Commission from October 2023.

30/23  Minutes, matters arising and outstanding actions & Committee minutes

Board Minutes

30.1   The Board agreed the minutes of its meeting held on 25 July 2023 as a true record.  There were no matters arising from the minutes not covered elsewhere on the agenda for this meeting.

Outstanding Actions and Electronic Business

30.2   The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on progress with actions from past meetings and items of electronic business.  Two actions were due to be discharged.

The Board agreed to discharge the action at previous minute reference 56.4/21 and 3.7/23.

Board Committees

(a) Committee for England, 15 September 2023

30.3   The Board received an oral update on the meeting of the Committee for England held on 15 September 2023.  The Committee had explored the decisions/approach being taken in relation to the resilience of water supplies.  The Committee had heard from a number of speakers on different aspects of resilience which had generated a good discussion.

(b)  Human Resources & Remuneration Committee, 22 September 2023

30.4 The Board received an oral update on the meeting of the Human Resources & Remuneration Committee held on 22 September 2023.  The Committee Chair gave a short overview of the matters discussed which had included the pay and headcount paper that was on the agenda for this meeting (minute 36/23 below refers) and the process/timeline for the recruitment of the new Chief Executive.  The Chair indicated that the Committee would be opening its meeting to other Board members for upcoming discussions on the Chief Executive recruitment.

(c)     Committee for Wales, 22 September 2023

30.5       The Board received an oral update on the meeting of the Committee for Wales held on 22 September 2023.  The Committee had explored the decisions/approach being taken in relation to water quality across England and Wales.  The Committee had heard from a number of speakers on different aspects of the topic.

31/23  CEO Commentary

31.1 The Board considered and noted an update by the Chief Executive on current operational matters at CCW.  The Chief Executive gave a brief oral update including:-

• the annual CCW staff event had been held at a venue in Birmingham on 14 September 2023. David Black of Ofwat had joined and spoken at the event;
• the Consumer Relations team continued to experience workload issues. An information pack had been provided to Defra setting out the issues which had resulted in a permanent increase in the headcount cap of two which would be funded by Thames Water on a ‘polluter pays’ basis; and
• difficulties were bring experienced in the transfer of CCW’s IT services from Capita to Daisy but work continued on the project.

31.2 The Director of Communications gave a brief update to the Board on her initial observations since joining CCW.  She recognised the good work that was taking place within CCW and the commitment of its people to make things better and suggested there were a number of opportunities CCW could draw on to take the opportunity to build trust in the sector.

32/23  Forward Work Programme Update

32.1  The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on the delivery of CCW’s Forward Work Programme (FWP) and associated issues that had emerged since the last Board meeting.  The Board was updated on a number of issues including:-

• Lord Hollick, the chair of the Lords Industry and Regulators Committee had written to Therese Coffey challenging the government’s decision not to introduce a Single Social Tariff;
• PR24 Business Plans had been submitted the previous Monday; the policy team was currently reviewing the submissions and the Board would receive an overview at its next meeting;
• all five retailers affected had agreed to reimburse the non-household customers that had been ‘materially impacted’ by the Retail Exit Code (REC) non-compliance by being overcharged by 5% or more. The decision would positively impact thousands of customers and was an example of a situation where CCW had identified an issue and taken action to achieve a positive result for customers;

32.2       The Board discussed issues raised in the report including:-

• how the key issues identified in the latest Water Mark had changed over time. The Board heard that both supply interruptions and leakage had increased which were disappointing; CCW would be developing it’s Comms lines on these matters;
• how CCW would approach the expected increase in charges for 2024/25. The Board noted that parameters for the 2024/25 charges were set in PR19 and while CCW would try to influence charges it could not make companies change them.  The Board would be updated as this matter developed;
• what CCW was doing to get Castle Water and Water Plus to improve their performance. The Board heard that CCW had adopting a tailored approach to this focussing on the particular issues at each retailer;
• If a dashboard could be developed to help the Board understand the issues set out in the update; this would be explored.

33/23  Business Services Update

33.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on issues for the Business Services team.  The Board noted that a request had been made to Defra to enable CCW to use the underspend from previous years; a decision on this was awaited.  Work was currently underway to move the Managed Services Provider contract from Capita to Daisy; some difficulties had been experienced but work was ongoing.  The NAO were currently carrying out the financial audit which was timetabled to have been completed the previous Friday.

33.2 The Board recognised that CCW was under more financial pressure this year and noted that the unexpected £1,500 payment to staff announced by Government in the summer had caused problems and required the Executive to review priorities and reschedule some work to accommodate these costs.  The Board noted that the Executive was working on the basis that the underspend would not be available to use and so further actions to reduce costs had been identified that could be implemented at short notice if necessary.

34/23  Customer Case

34.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that presented a customer case where CCW had failed to meet the customer’s expectations and to keep them informed through the process.  The Board noted that the problems had occurred when individuals within Consumer Relations had changed roles.  The customer had asked CCW for compensation for its service failings but CCW was not able to make payments of this nature.

34.2 The Board discussed the issues raised by the case and asked:-

• how learning from it was being taken forward. The Board heard that the matter had been raised with the advisers directly and that existing training and induction covered the areas where there had been failings; there was a recognition that things sometimes slipped through the net when people were under pressure.  The Director of Consumer Relations indicated that she was due to speak to the customer later that week; and
• how many cases were escalated and if trends were developing around this. The Board noted that a handful of cases each week were escalated to Consumer Relations Managers and that the case presented was an extreme.

34.3  The Board thanked the team for presenting an example of a case that could have been handled better.

35/23 Alternative Dispute Resolution

(i)  Creation of a limited by guarantee company and appointment of Directors

35.1 The Board considered a paper that sought its approval to the creation Limited by Guarantee Company for the accounting and reporting of the Water Industry Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) activities that CCW would take over from 1 December 2023.

35.2 The Board was advised that new company would not make a profit but was a mechanism to manage the funding, accounts and reporting of the ADR scheme and would also enable VAT registration and administration.

35.3 The Board asked why it was not proposed to remunerate the Company Directors.  The Board noted that it was anticipated that the activity required for the role would be minimal; this could be reviewed if it became apparent that more time was being spent on the role than currently envisaged.

The Board agreed:-

1. to establish a new company limited by guarantee be created to be called CCWater Trading Company Limited and registered for the accounting and reporting activities of ADR;
2. that Helen Brown, Rob Light (as CCW Chair), Simon Millward and Rob Wilson be appointed as Directors of the company and that CCW’s Board Secretary should be the Company Secretary;
3. that the roles at (2) above are not remunerated;
4. to approve the Memorandum and Articles of Association for the company.

(ii)  Industry Advisory Panel –appointment of panel members

35.4 The Board considered a paper that sought the Board’s approval to the appointment of members of the Industry Advisory Panel.  The Board had previously agreed to establish the Panel to have oversight of the ADR scheme (previous minute 70/22 refers).

35.5  The Board received a brief overview of the backgrounds to the independent members and noted that the industry was currently selecting its representatives; it was suggested the authority to confirm these names be delegated to the Chair.  Some questions were asked about the role of the CCW board member, the Chair would discuss these with the proposed representative and confirm the appointment outside of the meeting.

Action: Chair

The Board agreed:-

1.  to appoint Elsa Wye to Chair the Industry Advisory Panel
2. to appoint of Matthew Currie (independent member) and the Senior Director, Casework, Enforcement & Customers or named designate (Ofwat representative) to the Industry Advisory Panel:-
3. Delegate the authority to appoint the two Water Industry representatives on the Industry Advisory Panel and the CCW Board representative to the CCW Chair.
4. the above appointments to run from 1 December 2023 to 30 November 2026, or until the individual leaves the organisation they are representing, whichever is sooner.

36/23     Pay and Headcount

36.1  The Board considered and noted a paper that explored the pay and headcount issues impacting CCW.  The paper had previously been considered by the Human Resources & Remuneration Committee, its minute 16/23 refers.

36.2  The Board noted that the position with pay and headcount had developed over an extended period of time and that the process to make changes to the pay structure was resource and time intensive.  The Board heard that Defra had recently confirmed that CCW could increase its permanent headcount by two; this uplift would be used to bring in two additional posts to be funded by Thames Water on a ‘polluter pays’ basis.

36.3  The Human Resources and Remuneration Committee had agreed that this matter was key for the new Chair to be briefed on at an early stage; Rob Light confirmed it was on his list of issues to handover.

37/23 Redacted – publication would be prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs

38/23  Other Business

Emma Clancy

38.1 The Chair indicated that this was the last meeting Emma Clancy would be attending as she was due to leave her position as Chief Executive at the end of September 2023.  The Chair reflected on Emma’s achievements in the time she had been with CCW highlighting the cultural change that she had driven which had empowered staff and given the confidence to achieve.  The Chair passed on the Board’s best wishes for Emma’s future role.

Mike Keil

38.2 The Chair indicated that Mike Keil would take up the Interim Chief Executive role from 2 October 2023 and indicated that he was delighted for Mike to have the opportunity to take the organisation forward at a key time.

‘Your Water Your Say’ Sessions

38.3 The Board was advised that the second round of Your Water Your Say sessions would start soon and a link to register would be circulated to Board members shortly.  Board members joining sessions were asked to observe rather than actively challenge.

39/23 Review of Meeting

39.1 The Board briefly reviewed the meeting bearing in mind the agreed Board Principles and CCW’s Values.

40/23 Next meeting

40.1 The next Board meeting would be at 11.00 on Tuesday 28 November 2023 and be held at 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham, B2 4BH.

Meeting closed at 15:10

Minutes of the meeting held at 11:30 on 25 July 2023 at CCW offices, 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham

Present:

CCW Board:

• Alison Austin (Chair) (for items 21 to 24/23 only)
• Emma Clancy
• Bev Keogh (by videoconference)
• Rob Light (Chair) (for items 13 to 20/23 and 25 to 27/23 only)
• Lisa Tennant (by videoconference)

Boardroom Apprentice: Ruth Aidoo (by videoconference)

CCW staff:

• Ali Bell, Director of Communications
• Christina Blackwell, Head of Business Customers (for item 20/23 only)
• Helen Brown, Director of Consumer Relations (by videoconference)
• Tim Clarke, Head of PR and Media (for items 20 to 25/23 only)
• Gemma Domican, Executive Head of Transformation, Strategy and People
• Cath Jones, Head of Company Engagement (for item 20/23 only)
• Mike Keil, Senior Director of Policy, Research and Campaigns
• Simon Millward, Executive Head of Business Services
• Zoe Phillips, HR Manager (for items 13 to 19/23 only)
• [redacted: personal information], work experience student (for items 20 to 25/23 only)
• Alison Townsend, Board Secretary
• Jon Vinson, Head of Company Engagement (for item 20/23 only)

13/23 Welcome, introduction and apologies

13.1 The Chair welcomed all present to the meeting and particularly welcomed Ali Bell to her first Board meeting since joining CCW as the new Director of Communications. Apologies for absence had been received from Rachel Onikosi, Rhodri Williams and Rob Wilson.

13.2 The Chair gave a brief introduction to the meeting and reflected on the key items of business for the Board that day.

14/23 Declarations of Interest

14.1 There were no declarations of interest.

15/23 Minutes, matters arising and outstanding actions & Committee minutes

Board Minutes

15.1 The Board agreed the minutes of its meeting held on 23 May as a true record.

15.2 There were no matters arising from the minutes not covered elsewhere on the agenda for this meeting.

Outstanding Actions and Electronic Business

15.3 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on progress with actions from past meetings and items of electronic business. Two actions were due to be discharged.

The Board agreed to discharge the action at previous minute reference 7.3/23 and 9.2.23.

Committee minutes

(a) Human Resources & Remuneration Committee, 18 May 2023
15.4 The Board received the minutes of the Human Resources and Remuneration Committee held on 18 May 2023; the Board had previously been updated on the matters discussed at this meeting (minute 3.7/23 refers).

(b) Audit & Risk Management Committee, 6 July 2023
15.5 The Board considered and noted the minutes of the Audit and Risk Management Committee held on 6 July 2023. The Committee Chair gave a short overview of the matters discussed which had included the 2022/23 Internal Audit Report and an update on the interim external audit that had been completed earlier in the year.

6/23 CEO Commentary

16.1 The Board considered and noted an update by the Chief Executive on current operational matters at CCW. The Chief Executive gave a brief oral update including:-

• Consumer Relations were experiencing a significant uplift in customer complaints, the headcount cap and budgetary constraints were impacting the ability to efficiently manage the complaints received;
• CCW was experiencing significant budgetary challenges primarily arising from the one off £1,500 unfunded pay award that had been agreed by Government, and higher than expected costs for the new ICT Managed Services Provider. A request had been made to Defra to utilise the underspend from previous years; a response had not yet been received;
• Dispute Resolution Ombudsman (DRO) had been selected as the preferred provider for the ADR scheme. An initial legal challenge had been received from the second placed supplier but to date no further action had been received after the initial complaint and the deadline for action was due to expire shortly.

16.2 The Board discussed issues raised in the report:-

• The position with applications for the Chair and Member positions on the Industry Advisory Panel. The Board noted that a number of strong applications had been received for both positions and the interview panel was hopeful that both positions would be filled;
• The background to the legal challenge from the second placed supplier for the ADR scheme. [redacted: commercial confidentiality];
• The increase in complaints received. The Board noted that just over 1000 complaints had been received in June 2023 compared to around 620 in June 2022. A recovery plan was being developed and regular discussions were taking place with Thames Water, the biggest driver of the increase, about its own improvement plans.

17/23 Forward Work Programme Update

17.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on the delivery of CCW’s Forward Work Programme (FWP) and associated issues that had emerged since the last Board meeting. The Board was updated on a number of issues including:-

• Work continued to promote the proposal for ARID (Accelerating Reductions in Demand) proposals. Ofwat were currently consulting on the use of an efficiency fund and CCW would be meeting with Ofwat shortly to explore if ARID could be taken forward alongside Ofwat’s initiative;
• At the request of Defra the EA had written to companies to ask them to cut back on some of the PR24 environmental commitments. The request had created problems for companies as many business plans had been finalised and companies were starting to prepare for delivery. CCW’s PR24 working group was monitoring this matter.
• What CCW was doing to promote the support available to customers in light of Ofwat’s cost of living research. The Board noted that CCW continued to make reference to its affordability review and the tools available on its website to help customers identify support; there was a recognition that more could always be done in this area.

18/23 Business Services Update

18.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on issues for the Business Services team. The Board noted that the end May outturn was a £34,261 overspend against budget. Since then work had been completed to identify potential savings to claw this back and to cover the one off £1,500 pay award made by Government. CCW had asked Defra to authorise the use of the underspend to cover these costs; even with the use of the underspend, savings would be required and so some aspects of the work programme would be affected.

18.2 An agreement had been reached with Capital to extend their contract to late October 2023 while the move of the Managed Services Provider contract Daisy was completed. The new Head of IT was due to join CCW in mid August.

18.3 The Board enquired whether the overspend had been discussed with Defra; this was confirmed.

19/23 The future of the Consumer Advocate Role

19.1 The Board considered and a paper that presented three options for the future of the Consumer Advocate (CA) role at CCW for the Board’s consideration. [redacted; personal information]

The Board agreed that

1. the current Consumer Advocates finish at CCW at the end of their current contracts;
2. that CCW considers its future resourcing needs including how to effectively allocate resources during price review periods

20/23 Escalation Framework Review

20.1 The Board received a presentation that looked at those issues that were at all three levels on CCW’s escalation framework and how this had changed since the last update of this type in January 2023.

20.2 The Board received a brief overview of the escalation framework and the profile of the escalated issues. The Board noted that escalated issues presented included both newly escalated items and other longer term issues. The Board heard that three regions were currently in drought and temporary use bans were in place in two company areas. Anglian Water, Northumbrian Water, Yorkshire Water, Thames Water, South West Water and Wessex Water were facing enforcement action by Ofwat because of concerns that some sewage treatment works were breaching their environmental permits;

20.3 The Board discussed issues raised in and associated with the presentation particularly:-

• why, given it had been cited in the news as a troubled company, Yorkshire Water (YW) did not have any escalated issues. The Board was advised that while YW had a number of issues it had not yet reached the point of escalation; this was being kept under review;
• If CCW had received any indications about Thames Water’s (TW) commitment to its 8 year turnaround plan. The Board noted that there had been recent reference to the need for a more focussed turnaround plan and more detail had been promised soon. Meetings were scheduled between TW and members of CCW’s Executive Team to discuss issues further. Defra had recently increased its oversight of TW;
• If there was a recognition within Southern Water (SW) that their complaint levels were worse than TW. The Board heard that while SW were aware that their complaint levels were high its understanding of the reasons for the complaints was less clear and noted that problems were often seen in companies that had contracted out front line services;
• If, given Castle Water (CW) and WaterPlus had both been at level three since the escalation framework had been introduced, if there were any signs of improvement or if these companies accepted complaints as the economic cost of business. The Board noted that there was a recognition within CW that improvements were needed but that this would take time; and
• how CCW was planning to address the common issues in the Non Household market. The Board noted that CCW’s five year review of the market had set out the issues; the approach to each company would be tailored but CCW had made it clear it wanted to work collaboratively with all companies.

20.4 The Board went on to discuss the issues that had been escalated and the actions available to CCW to address these. The Executive team agreed to look at CCW’s ‘tool kit’ for dealing with persistent poor performers.

Action: Executive Team

21/23 2022/23 Audit Committee Report to the Board

21.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that presented the Audit and Risk Management Committee’s annual report to the Board for 2022/23. The Chair of the Committee gave a brief overview of the report and the key issues considered by the Committee during the period.

22/23 Annual Review of Code of Governance

22.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the outcome of the annual review of the Code of Governance; proposed changes were marked up on the paper presented together with an explanation for that change.

The Board approved the proposed changes to the Code of Governance.

23/23 Board Forward Look

23.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the updated Board Forward Look to end March 2024. The Board noted that the Forward Look was a live document that flexed to respond to the business need and presented the work for the Board at that point in time.

The Board approved the Board Forward Look to March 2024.

24/23 Dates for Board meetings in 2024/25

24.1 The Board considered a paper that presented dates for its meetings in 2023/24; the Board had been consulted on these dates ahead of the paper being drafted. Noting that the proposed September 2024 date (24 September) was in the traditional holiday period, and there had been a number of apologies for this meeting, it was proposed that this meeting be moved to 16 July 2024.

The Board approved the dates for its meetings in 2024/5 subject to the adjustment set out above.

25/23 Other Business

Chief Executive

25.1 The Chair reported that he had received and accepted the Chief Executive’s resignation and that she would be leaving CCW at the end of September 2023. Work was underway to appoint an interim until the recruitment process for the permanent replacement could commence.

26/23 Review of Meeting

26.1 The Board briefly reviewed the meeting bearing in mind the agreed Board Principles and CCW’s Values.

27/23 Next meeting

27.1 The next Board meeting would be at 11.00 on Tuesday 26 September 2023 and be held at 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham, B2 4BH.

Meeting Closed 14:45

Minutes of the meeting held at 11:30 on 23 May 2023 at Ty William Morgan House, 6&7 Central Square, Cardiff, CF10 1EP.

Present:

CCW Board:

• Alison Austin
• Emma Clancy
• Bev Keogh
• Rob Light (Chair)
• Rachel Onikosi
• Rhodri Williams (for items 1/23 to 9/23 (part) only)
• Rob Wilson (for item 9/23 only)

CCW staff:

• [redacted: personal information], Customer Caseworker (for item 8/23 only)
• Helen Brown, Director of Consumer Relations
• Tim Clarke, Interim Director of Communications
• Gemma Domican, Executive Head of Transformation, Strategy and People
• Mike Keil, Senior Director of Policy, Research and Campaigns
• Simon Millward, Executive Head of Business Services
• Alison Townsend, Board Secretary

By invitation:

• Paul Markwick, Prime East (for item 9/23 only)

1/23 Welcome, introduction and apologies

1.1 The Chair welcomed all present to the meeting. Apologies for absence had been received from Ruth Aidoo (Boardroom Apprentice), Lisa Tennant and Rob Wilson. Rob Wilson would be joining the meeting for item 9/23.

1.2 The Chair gave a brief introduction to the meeting and reflected on the key items of business for the Board that day. The Board had met informally with Eifiona Williams of Welsh Government before the start of this meeting to hear about current priorities.

2/23 Declarations of Interest

2.1 There were no declarations of interest.

3/23 Minutes, matters arising and outstanding actions & Committee minutes

Board Minutes

3.1 The Board agreed the minutes of its meeting held on 28 March as a true record [redacted: prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs].

3.2 There were no matters arising from the minutes not covered elsewhere on the agenda for this meeting.

Outstanding Actions and Electronic Business

3.3 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on progress with actions from past meetings and items of electronic business. Four actions were due to be discharged.

3.4 [redacted: prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs]

The Board agreed to discharge the action at previous minute reference 88/22, 91/22, 94/22 and 95/22.

Committee minutes

(a) Committee for England, 17 March 2023

3.5 The Board received the minutes of the meeting of the Committee for England held on 17 March 2023; it had received an update on the matters considered at its last meeting (minute 97.3/22 refers).

(b) Audit & Risk Management Committee, 22 March 2023

3.6 The Board received the minutes of the meeting of the Audit and Risk Management Committee held on 22 March 2023; it had received an update on the matters considered at its last meeting (minute 97.4/22 refers).

(c) Human Resources & Remuneration Committee, 18 May 2023

3.7 The Board received an oral update on the business for the Human Resources and Remuneration Committee at its meeting on 18 May 2023. Matters considered had included the Chief Executive’s 2022/23 performance bonus award and 2023/24 objectives, proposals for the allocation of the 2023 pay award to be submitted to Defra. The Board made reference to the recruitment/retention issues that CCW was experiencing and asked what the Committee was doing on this matter. The Board was advised that CCW’s status as a Defra Arm’s Length Body limited the action that could be taken. The Board recognised the risks associated with the current recruitment/retention problems and noted that the process to submit a pay flex case to Defra was lengthy. The Board asked for a paper exploring these issues for a future meeting.

Action G Domican

4/23 CEO Commentary

87.1 The Board considered and noted an update by the Chief Executive on current operational matters at CCW. The Board discussed issues raised in the report and the supplementary oral update including:-

• [redacted: prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs];
• how Board members might be involved in the work around Water Company Culture. The Board noted that events, including on this topic, were listed on CCW’s website and Board members could indicate an interest in these; in addition relevant invitations would be made to Board members.
• if consideration had been given to the introduction of young water advocates. The Board noted that thought was being given to how CCW could engage with young people.

5/23 Forward Work Programme Update

5.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on the delivery of CCW’s Forward Work Programme (FWP) and associated issues that had emerged since the last Board meeting. The Board was updated on a number of issues including:-

• since the report had been finalised Ofwat had launched an enforcement investigation into the accuracy of South West Water’s (SWW) leakage and per capita consumption reporting. This was in addition to the ongoing investigation relating to SWW’s performance reporting; and
• the approval of an £11.3m funding increase for Ofwat by HM Treasury. The Board noted that Ofwat was using the funding to invest in a number of areas of its operations.

6/23 Business Services Update

6.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on issues for the Business Services team. The Board noted that the 2022/23 year end outturn position which was an underspend of £28,276 or 0.4% of budget.

6.2 The Managed Service Provider (MSP) contract had been let to Daisy and the new Head of IT was due to start in mid-August. The Board noted that the MSP contract was likely to cost c £30k more than had been budgeted; work was underway to explore how this could be accommodated.

7/23 Strategic Risk Register : high level risks

7.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that presented the high level risks that had been extracted from the full risk register. The paper had been deferred from the meeting held on 28 March 2023 (minute 91/22 refers).

7.2 The Chair of the Audit & Risk Management Committee indicated that the Committee reviewed the full register at each of its meetings. The Committee was pleased to see how the Executive Team actively used the register to manage issues.

7.3 The Board referred to the informal discussion with Welsh Government earlier that day and asked if there was a potential risk concerning the increasing divergence of Government Policy/legislation between England and Wales. The risk would be evaluated.

Action: A Townsend

8/23 Customer Case

8.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that presented a recent customer case that concerned a customer that had suffered a leak near to his property for more than seven years. The Board asked what CCW had learned from the case and what had gone well and noted that Welsh Water had failed to engage with the customer and third party organisations until CCW had become involved. The Board asked if this was a case that other companies could learn from and was advised that while this was a particularly extreme case it was not a common problem that would be particularly relevant to other companies. The matter would be reviewed as part of the company liaison process as a case that could have been managed better.

9/23 External Review of Board Effectiveness

9.1 The Board received a presentation from Paul Markwick, Prime East who had carried out the recent external review of Board Effectiveness. The recommendations arising from the review were presented and the Board discussed these.

9.2 The Board went on to discuss how the recommendations would be taken forward and agreed that a working group, comprising members of the Board and the Executive Team, be established to look at the next steps and identify the priority actions.

Action: R Light

9.3 The Board thanked Paul Markwick for his support and assistance during the course of the review.

10/23 Other Business

10.1 There were no other items of business for the Board.

11/23 Review of Meeting

11.1 The Board reviewed its meeting with reference to the agreed Board Principles and CCW’s values. The Board welcomed the opportunity to meet with Eifionna Welsh Government and [redacted: personal information] who had presented the Customer Case.

12/23 Next meeting

12.1 The next Board meeting would be at 11.00 on Tuesday 25 July 2023 and be held at 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham, B2 4BH.

Meeting closed at 15:15

Minutes of the meeting held at 11:30 on 28 March 2023 at the CCW offices, 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham.

Present:

CCW Board:

• Alison Austin
• Emma Clancy
• Bev Keogh
• Rob Light (Chair)
• Rachel Onikosi
• Lisa Tennant (by videoconference for items 84 to 88/22 below only)
• Rhodri Williams
• Rob Wilson (for items 84 to 90/22 and 92/22 below only)

Boardroom Apprentice:

• Ruth Aidoo

CCW staff:

• David Barrett, IT Contractor (for items 93 and 95/22 below only)
• Hannah Bradley, Head of Evidence and Insights (for item 92/22 below only)
• Helen Brown, Director of Consumer Relations
• Tim Clarke, Interim Director of Communications ( for items 84 to 88/22 below only)
• Gemma Domican, Executive Head of Transformation, Strategy and People
• Mike Keil, Senior Director of Policy, Research and Campaigns
• Simon Millward, Executive Head of Business Services
• Claire Thomas, Consumer Relations Strategy, Policy & Improvement Manager (for item 70/22 below only)
• Alison Townsend, Board Secretary

84/22 Welcome, introduction and apologies

84.1 The Chair welcomed all present to the meeting and noted that Paul Markwick was present to observe the meeting as part of the external Board Effectiveness Review underway. There were no apologies for absence.

84.2 The Chair gave a brief introduction to the meeting and reflected on the key items of business for the Board that day [redacted: prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs].

84.3 The Board had received an informal update from the Director of Consumer Relations on her vision for the CR Team before the start of the formal meeting.

85/22 Declarations of Interest

85.1 Rob Light declared an interest in the matter the subject of minute 90/22 below headed “Forward Work Programme Update” insofar as it related to the Non Household (NHH) retail market for water as he was a NHH customer. Bev Keogh declared an interest in the matter the subject of minute 93/22 below headed “ICT matters” insofar as it related to her coaching work with the Parliamentary Digital Service. Neither of the declarations were considered significant and both members remained in the meeting for these items.

86/22 Minutes, matters arising and outstanding actions & Committee minutes

Board Minutes

86.1 The Board agreed the minutes of its meeting held on 24 January 2023 as a true record subject to [redacted: prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs].

And the adjustment to minute 78.1 to indicate that the next full Board meeting would be on 28 March 2023.

86.2 The Board agreed the minutes of its meeting held on 7 March 2023 as a true record.

86.3 There were no matters arising from the minutes not covered elsewhere on the agenda for this meeting.

Outstanding Actions and Electronic Business

86.4 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on progress with actions from past meetings and items of electronic business. One action was due to be discharged.

86.5 Since its last meeting the Board had approved adjustments to the 2023/24 Forward Work Programme in light of the Board’s decision on the Single Social Tariff at the Board meeting on 7 March 2023, previous Board minute 82/22 refers.

The Board agreed to discharge the action at previous minute reference 71/22.

87/22 CEO Commentary

87.1 The Board considered and noted an update by the Chief Executive on current operational matters at CCW. The Chief Executive drew the Board’s attention to a number of key issues/activities including:-

• The Director of Communications position had been offered to ;a candidate who had subsequently turned it down;
• CCW’s new website had launched the previous day; positive feedback had been received;
• A culture and trust workshop had been held with companies to look at actions to rebuild trust in the sector and explore how a strong company culture could deliver for customers;

87.2 The Board discussed issues raised in the report and the supplementary oral update including:-

• How companies had responded to the culture and trust event. The Board heard that there had been a high level of CEO/senior level attendance which demonstrated an interest/recognition in the issue although companies had different views on the solution;
• The current impact of the seven vacancies to be filled in the Consumer Relations Team, for example complaint backlogs. The Board noted that contractors were currently covering some of the vacancies and Thames Water was currently funding three posts to reflect the number of complaints it was responsible for. CCW’s backlog was slowly reducing and the creation of dedicated telephone and written complaints teams would bring efficiency gains;
• noting that the staff survey indicated new starters were happier than those that had been in post longer, if there were any learning points from this. The Board noted that the segmented data from the survey had been analysed and there was a drop in engagement in the 5-10 year in post group; the consultants running the survey had advised that this dip in engagement was also seen in other organisations they worked with. The staff survey action plan which had been presented to the HR Committee aimed to address issues raised in the survey including this;
• if the current targets for the Consumer Relations team were appropriate or if they were likely to change. This was one of the matters being examined by the new Director of Consumer Relations; targets should be stretching but achievable.

[redacted: prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs]

88/22 [redacted: prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs]

89/22 Finance Report to January 2023

89.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that provided an update on CCW’s financial position to end January 2023. The Board noted that a budget review with high risk budget holders in January 2023; an underspend of £32k was currently predicted.

90/22 Forward Work Programme Update

90.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on the delivery of CCW’s Forward Work Programme (FWP) and associated issues that had emerged since the last Board meeting. The Board was updated on a number of issues including:-

• The publication of the House of Lords report on the work of Ofwat which included consideration of wider water sector issues and had included recommendations in a number of areas where CCW had been pushing for change;
• CCW’s Five Year Review of the business retail water market had been published and included 22 recommendations to improve the experience of business customers;
• two Environment Agency areas remain in drought and while most other areas were in recovery or had returned to nearer normal conditions work was underway to plan potential drought communications campaign to be taken up at short notice should a prolonged period of dry/hot weather occur;
• the first of the ‘Your Water, Your Say’ open challenge sessions that companies were required to run as part of PR24 was due to take place later that week;

90.2 The Board discussed the paper and asked about the lifting the lid research and noted that there were some cultural practices associated with water use.

91/22 Strategic Risk Register : high level risks

91.1 This item was deferred to be considered at the next Board meeting on 23 May 2023.

Action: A Townsend

92/22 Business Case: Citizens Forum – Contract Extension

92.1 The Board considered and a paper that requested the Board’s approval of the extension of the contract for CCW’s Citizens Forum at a cost of up to £100,000. It was proposed that the extension be used on a call off basis and so not all of the £100,000 may be used.

92.2 The Board heard that the contract for the provision of a Citizens Forum had been in place since October 2022 and to date had been used to understand views about a number of campaigns. The operation of the current panel had been reviewed and feedback on the contractor and its work had been positive.

92.3 The Board discussed the matters raised in the paper particularly and asked if CCW had explored running the Citizens Forum in house. The Board was advised that CCW did not have the resources to create and maintain the panel or to run the activities that supported it including focus groups. In addition the head count limit that CCW was required to work within prevented the expansion of the Research Team to accommodate this work. The Board noted that the call off contract could be paused and the funds reallocated to other work streams; this flexibility would not be possible with an in house resource.

The Board agreed to extend the contract with Blue Marble for the provision of CCW’s Citizens Forum at an additional cost of up to £100,000.

93/22 ICT Matters

(i) ICT Strategy

93.1 The Board considered a paper that presented an ICT strategy for CCW. The Board received an overview of the work to develop the strategy and noted that it was planned to deliver the strategy over three phases based on technical and business needs and that it was underpinned by continuous improvement.

93.2 The Board discussed the strategy particularly:-

• timescales for the three phases. The Board was advised that timescales were flexible depending on the resources available; in practice it was likely to take between three and five years to implement the strategy;
• if there were any critical points in the strategy. The Board heard that the renewal of the contract for the Managed Services Provider (minute 93.3 below also refers) was critical and after that projects could be prioritised to suit business need and resources;
• how the strategy could accommodate the changing ICT landscape. The Board heard that while the strategy was flexible it’s ambition needed to be aligned to CCW’s resourcing constraints; and
• if the implementation of the outstanding recommendations of the previous Internal Audit Report on ICT Security had been included in the plan; this was confirmed.

The Board endorse the ICT strategy, the direction it set and the projects/work streams to be delivered.

(ii) Business Case: ICT Managed Services Provider

93.3 The Board considered a paper that presented business case for the procurement of a contract with an IT managed service provider. The contract to be procured would be for five years with a cumulative value over £100k and so Board approval of the business case was required.

93.4 The Board discussed the two options presented.

The Board agreed that CCW should procure a new IT managed service provider contract for five years to 1st June 2028 at an estimated cost of £1.2m over five years.

94/22 Review of Board Committee Membership

94.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the outcome of the Chair’s annual review of the membership of Board Committees. No changes were proposed to Committee membership and the Chair recommended that Ruth Aidoo, the Boardroom Apprentice join meetings of the HR and Remuneration Committee, Audit and Risk Management Committee and the Committee for England. The Board noted there was an error in the table Annexed to the paper; an updated version would be circulated to the Board outside of the meeting.

Action: A Townsend

95/22 Industry Advisory Panel : Terms of Reference and Role Profiles

95.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the terms of reference for the Industry Advisory Panel and role profiles and remuneration for the Independent Chair and Panel Member. The Board had previously agreed to establish the panel to provide oversight of the one-stop-shop for mediation and support established by CCW and to support its continuous improvements for customers (previous minute 70/22 refers).

95.2 The Board discussed aspects of the paper including:

• if the only report the Board would receive from the panel was the proposed annual report. The Board was advised that the Board would receive the minutes and supplementary update on each meeting of the panel; the annual report was in addition to this regular reporting.
• If ‘knowledge of the water sector’ should be a desirable skill set for both the Chair and Member; this would be added. Action: C Thomas

The Board:

1. approved the approve the Industry Advisory Panel terms of reference; and
2. approve the role profiles for the Independent members of the Panel and the proposed remuneration for the roles.

96/22 Review of Board Register of Interests

96.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that presented a summary of the Board’s register of interests for 2022/23; the summary would be referenced in the 2022/23 Annual Report and Accounts.

96.2 The following additional interests were notified and would be added to the summary:

• Rachel Onikosi declared that she was a Magistrate and also the Licensee of TED Talks Lewisham; both were remunerated positions.
• Bev Keogh reported that membership of the Customer Challenge Group member – Electricity North West had finished on 31/12/2022)

The Board approved the summary register for publication alongside the 2022/23 Annual Report and Accounts subject the adjustments set out above.

97/22 Committee minutes

(a) Committee for Wales, 10 March 2023

97.1 The Board received the minutes of the meeting of the Committee for Wales held on 10 March 2023 and a supplementary oral update on the key points of the meeting.

(b) HR & Remuneration Committee, 15 March 2023

97.2 The Board noted the minutes of the meeting of the Human Resources and Remuneration Committee for Wales held on 15 March 2023.

(c) Committee for England, 17 March 2023

97.3 The Board received an oral update on the meeting of the Committee for England held on 17 March 2023 from the Committee Chair. The Board went on to discuss how to maximise the impact of these forums.

(d) Audit & Risk Management Committee, 22 March 2023

97.4 The Board received an oral update on the meeting of the Audit and Risk Management Committee held on 22 March 2023 from the Committee Chair. Matters discussed had included the approval of the 2023/24 Internal Audit Plan and the Audit Planning Report presented by the NAO.

98/22 Other Business

98.1 There were no other items of business for the Board.

99/22 Review of Meeting

99.1 The Board reviewed its meeting with reference to the agreed Board Principles and CCW’s values.

100/22 Next meeting

100.1 The next Board meeting would be at 11.00 on Tuesday 23 May 2023 and be held at Ty William Morgan House, Cardiff.

Meeting closed at 15:30

Minutes of the meeting held at 11:00 on 7 March 2023. Meeting held virtually.

Present:-

CCW Board:

• Alison Austin
• Emma Clancy
• Rob Light (Chair)
• Lisa Tennant
• Rhodri Williams
• Rob Wilson

CCW staff:

• Helen Brown, Director of Consumer Relations
• Tim Clarke, Interim Director of Communications
• Gemma Domican, Executive Head of Transformation, Strategy and People
• Mike Keil, Senior Director of Policy, Research and Campaigns
• Simon Millward, Executive Head of Business Services
• Alison Townsend, Board Secretary

79/22 Welcome, introduction and apologies

79.1 The Chair welcomed all present to the meeting. Apologies for absence had been received from Bev Keogh and Rachel Onikosi.

79.2 The Chair gave a brief introduction to the meeting and explained that the meeting had been extended to include the discussion at minute 82/22 below ‘Working with Defra’.

80/22 Declarations of Interest

80.1 There were no declarations of interest relevant to the matters before the Board.

81/22 2023/24 Strategic Planning

(i) CCW Forward Work Programme 2023/24

81.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the proposed Forward Work Programme (FWP) for 2023/24. At its meeting in November 2022 the Board had considered a previous draft of the FWP and approved the document for public consultation (minute 54/22 refers).

81.2 The consultation had closed on 14 February 2023 and the Board was updated on the responses received. Responses had been generally supportive and a summary of these, together with detail of CCW’s response to each, was annexed to the paper. The Board noted that a letter would be sent to all respondees to let them know how their comments had been taken on board.

81.3 The Board agreed that the paper clearly presented the outcome of the responses to the consultation and how CCW proposed to address these. The Board went on to discuss the impact of its next discussion at minute 82/22 below on the FWP and agreed that the recommendation be adjusted so that any changes to the text other minor adjustments to the text, for example for clarity, be shared with the Board ahead of approval by the Chair and Chief Executive.

The Board:

1. approved the Forward Work Programme 2023/24;
2. delegated authority to approve any final minor amendments to the Chair and Chief Executive; and
3. agreed that any substantive changes to the text be shared with the Board ahead of approval by the Chair and Chief Executive.
4. 2023/24 Budget Proposals

81.4 The Board considered a paper that presented the 2023/24 licence fee and budget and the supporting budget assumptions to the Board for approval. The paper proposed the budget remained at the same level as 2022/23 which was in practice a budget decrease as CCW would need to absorb inflationary pressures. The budget had been subject to consultation alongside the 2023/24 FWP (minutes 81.1 and 81.2 above refers).

81.5 The Board discussed the paper and the assumptions supporting the budget particularly:-

• What the 4% provision for a pay increase had been based on. The Board was advised that this was based on indications received from Defra to date; the provision would be adjusted when formal guidance was received.
• If the provision for a 10% increase in IT assumed an improvement in service. The Board noted that a similar level of service was assumed and that procurement for the contract would commence after the March 2023 Board meeting;
• Why the accommodation costs had increased. The Board noted that this was due to the accounting treatment of leases introduced in IFRS 16;
• The reason for the difference between the £7.08m budget and the £7.06 licence fee. The Board heard that this was because the £20k depreciation charge was a non-cash item.

The Board approved a budget of £7.08m and the Licence Fee of £7.06m for 2023/24.

82/22 [redacted: prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs]

83/22 Other Business

Travel and subsistence expenses

83.1 The Board were reminded to submit expense claims promptly and no later than within three months of being incurred; Board members agreed to do this.

84/22 Next meeting

84.1 The next Board meeting would be at 11.00 on Tuesday 28 March 2023.

Meeting closed at 13:10

Minutes of the meeting held at 11:40 on 24 January 2023 at the CCW offices, 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham.

Present:-

CCW Board:

• Alison Austin
• Emma Clancy
• Bev Keogh
• Rob Light (Chair)
• Rachel Onikosi
• Lisa Tennant
• Rhodri Williams
• Rob Wilson

Boardroom Apprentice:

• Ruth Aidoo

CCW staff:

• Hannah Bradley, Head of Evidence and Insights (for item 73/22 below only)
• [redacted: personal information}, Policy Manager (for item 72/22 below only) (by videoconference)
• Helen Brown, Director of Consumer Relations
• Tim Clarke, Interim Director of Communications
• Gemma Domican, Executive Head of Transformation, Strategy and People
• Sarah Floyd, Service Excellence Manager (for item 71/22 below only)
• Steve Hobbs, Senior Leader, Economic Regulation (for item 74/22 below only) (by video conference)
• Cath Jones, Head of Company Engagement (for item 75/22 below only)
• Mike Keil, Senior Director of Policy, Research and Campaigns
• Simon Millward, Executive Head of Business Services
• [redacted: personal information], Policy Manager (for item 75/22 below only)
• Claire Thomas, Consumer Relations Strategy, Policy & Improvement Manager (for item 70/22 below only)
• Alison Townsend, Board Secretary
• John Vinson, Head of Company Engagement (for item 75/22 below only) (by video conference)

64/22 Welcome, introduction and apologies

64.1 The Chair welcomed all present to the meeting. Ruth Aidoo was attending her first Board meeting as part of the Boardroom Apprentice programme supported by the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities. Helen Brown had taken up the position of Director of Consumer Relations in December 2022 and was also attending her first Board meeting. There were no apologies for absence.

64.2 The Chair gave a brief introduction to the meeting and reflected on the key items of business for the Board that day. The Board had received an update on the five year review of the Non-Household retail market for water in an informal session before the start of the formal Board meeting.

65/22 Declarations of Interest

65.1 Rob Light reported that he had recently established a new business; the interest would be added to the permanent register of interests. Rob also reported that he was a business water customer and was likely to be raising a complaint about his retailer. The interests reported were not considered relevant to the matters before the Board and Rob remained in the meeting and in the Chair.

65.2 There were no declarations of interest relevant to the matters before the Board.

66/22 Minutes, matters arising and outstanding actions & Committee minutes

Board Minutes

66.1 The Board agreed the minutes of its meeting held on 22 November 2022 as a true record. There were no matters arising from the minutes not covered elsewhere on the agenda for this meeting.

Outstanding Actions and Electronic Business

66.2 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on progress with actions from past meetings and items of electronic business. Two actions were marked to be discharged and there had been no items of electronic business since the last meeting.

The Board agreed to discharge the actions at previous minute references 53/22 and 54/22.

Reports from Board Committees

Audit & Risk Management Committee 14 December 2022

66.3 The Board received the minutes and a supplementary oral update from the Committee Chair on the meeting of the Audit and Risk Management Committee held on 14 December 2022. Matters considered by the Committee had included the report of the Key Financial Controls Audit which had received substantial assurance, the risk register and NAO plans for the 2022/23 financial audit. The Board noted that the 2021/22 Annual Report and Accounts had been laid on 9 January 2023.

66.4 The Board was advised that NAO would commence the 2022/23 interim audit shortly and that the year-end audit was scheduled for September 2023; NAO had prioritised the audit of large departments before the summer recess.

67/22 CEO Commentary

67.1 The Board considered and noted an update by the Chief Executive on current operational matters at CCW. The Chief Executive drew the Board’s attention to a number of key issues/activities including:-

• Helen Brown had joined CCW as Director of Consumer Relations in December 2022;
• 2022 staff survey results had found that 85% of staff were either fully engaged or partially engaged;
• The risk of a budget underspend had increased and the reasons for this were briefly outline to the Board; the Executive Team were looking at options to utilise the underspend;

67.2 [redacted: prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs]

68/22 Finance Report to November 2022

68.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that provided an update on CCW’s financial position to end November 2022. The Board noted that the position at end of November 2022 was an underspend of £42k. A budget review had taken place in January 2023 and the forecast underspend had increased to £96k; the Executive Team were looking at ways to utilise the underspend and a number of options had been identified.

68.2 The Board was updated on the position with the dilapidation charge for the former Victoria Square House office.

69/22 Forward Work Programme Update

69.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on the delivery of CCW’s Forward Work Programme (FWP) and associated issues that had emerged since the last Board meeting. The Board discussed the paper and particularly asked:-

• if any further activities were planned with the Martin Lewis Show. The Board was advised that the Martin Lewis team were regularly briefed on relevant issues and CCW would be engaging with them around the 2023/24 bills announcement (minute 72/22 below also refers); and
• the reasons why the South West region was still in drought particularly given recent rainfall. The Board was advised that the situation with water resources in that region were still difficult and more work was needed to highlight the issues around winter drought. The Board noted that SWW’s ‘stop the drop’ campaign had been successful. The Campaign had promised £30 bill credit to the 255,000 households served by the Colliford Reservoir if it reached 30% capacity by 31st December 2022. The Board questioned if companies should be offering incentives of this nature. The Board noted that SWW would have assessed the cost/benefit of the initiative before it was launched.

70/22 Industry Advisory Panel

70.1 The Board considered and a paper that updated it on work to develop the governance arrangements to support the one-stop-shop for mediation and adjudication at CCW. The paper sought the Board’s approval to the establishment of a CCW Industry Advisory Panel. The Panel would report to the CCW Board and have oversight of the one-stop-shop to support its continuous improvements for customers. The Board noted that the proposals had been discussed with the industry who were supportive of them. The next stage of work was to develop Terms of Reference and Role Descriptions for the panel members.

70.2 The Board discussed the paper particularly:-

• responsibilities for the appointment of the Independent Chair. The Board noted that the panel was being created as a Board Committee as permitted by Schedule 3A of the Water Industry Act 1991. Appointments to Board Committees were a matter reserved to the CCW Board;
• If the funding for the scheme would include funding for costs incurred by CCW to manage the scheme. The Board was advised that this had been factored into the charges for the scheme.

The Board approved the establishment of the Industry Advisory Panel.

71/22 Customer Case

71.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that presented a recent customer case that concerned Thames Water (TW). The case was briefly outlined to the Board and the Board reviewed a summary of the case handling process and the number of steps required to reach a resolution. The Board noted that CCW was looking to drive down the number of times an adviser needed to intervene in a case.

71.2 The Board briefly discussed the paper and asked how much it cost CCW to handle a typical case; this would be explored further. Action: S Floyd
Helen Brown went on to update the Board on the work that she was doing to put pressure on TW to improve their complaints handling performance.

72/22 2023/24 Charges

72.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on final charges for 2023/24 (previous minute 57/22 also refers). The Board heard that current inflationary pressures were driving average bill increases of 7%. The Board discussed the issues raised in the paper particularly:-

• If companies were raising costs more than necessary; the Board was advised that the rises were all within the range permitted by the regulatory framework. Companies were being encouraged to explain the reasons for the increases in their communications.
• The impact on process of the CMA PR19 judgement for four companies, which had spread the CMA’s pricing decision on over 3 years. The Board noted that it would have been preferable for the costs to have been over four years rather than three.

73/22 2023/24 Research and Consultancy Programme

73.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the Research and Consultancy Programme 2023/24. The Board heard that the programme was designed to be flexible over the course of the year and included collaborative work with Ofwat. A budget of £720k was proposed and the Board heard how this was planned to be used. The Board heard that the collaborative work with Ofwat had enabled CCW to increase its influence and customer representation.

The Board agreed the broad shape of the consumer research programme and consultancy work as set out in the paper presented.

74/22 PR24 – Final Methodology

74.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that presented Ofwat’s final PR24 methodology and considered how far it reflected or would help deliver CCW’s objectives for the 2024 price review. The paper also set out a number of actions to address those areas where the methodology did not meet CCW’s expectations.

74.2 The Board asked how the work on ownership models fitted with this work and was advised that the ownership model research had not started yet; when this was available it would feed into PR24 as appropriate. The Board reflected on the change in CCWs approach to influencing the PR24 methodology which had placed more focus on proactive engagement and noted that the outcome had been greater influence on the final methodology.

75/22 Escalation Framework: Deep Dive

75.1 The Board received a presentation that looked at those issues that were at all three levels on CCW’s escalation framework and how this had changed since the last update of this type in July 2022. The Board received a brief overview of the escalation framework and noted that escalated issues presented included both newly escalated items and other longer term issues.

75.2 The Board discussed issues raised in and associated with the presentation particularly:-

• Anglian Water, Northumbrian Water, Yorkshire Water, Thames Water, South West Water and Wessex Water were facing enforcement action by Ofwat because of concerns that some sewage treatment works operate in a way that breaks their environmental permits;
• South Staffordshire Water (SSW) had experienced a cyber-attack in August 2022. The activities completed by SSW to support both customers and staff following the incident were outlined to the Board. SSW had taken the decision to put the launch of a new billing and debt management system, which had been due to launch in August 2022, on hold because of the attack. The system was now due to go live the following Friday. The Board asked if there had been any reports that the data breached had been misused. No reports had been made to CCW although it was understood that solicitors had been making contact with customers in relation to a potential class action;
• Complaint numbers at Thames Water (TW) continued at high levels. TW had recently taken a number of actions to address performance in this area. The Board asked if the sharing of best practice was helping Thames to improve and was updated on work in this area.
• The freeze/thaw in December had caused problems for Southern Water (SW) customers in Southampton for a protracted period. The Board asked if SW should have had plans in place to manage this type of incident and noted that CCW was talking to companies about this;
• There had been a Westminster Hall debate about recent water outages experienced in Tunbridge Wells. The Board noted that issues had also been experienced in the area in summer 2022 and that South East Water had problems with the resilience of its systems in this area.
• WaterPlus remained the worst performing business retailer. The Board asked if retailers shared experiences and best practice and noted that CCW operated as retailer forum for this purpose. The board noted that the business market was a competitive market which was likely to affect the willingness of companies to share.

76/22 Other Business

Travel and subsistence expenses

76.1 The Board were reminded to submit expense claims promptly and no later than within three months of being incurred; Board members agreed to do this.

77/22 Review of Meeting

77.1 The Board reviewed its meeting with reference to the agreed Board Principles and CCW’s values. The Board agreed that the papers presented had been of a high standard and recognised the large amount of business completed in the meeting.

78/22 Next meeting

78.1 The next Board meeting would be at 11.00 on Tuesday 24 January 2023.

Meeting closed at 15:20

Minutes of the meeting held at 11:00 on 22 November 2022 at the CCW offices, 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham.

Present:-

CCW Board:

• Alison Austin
• Emma Clancy
• Bev Keogh
• Rob Light (Chair)
• Rachel Onikosi (by video conference)
• Rhodri Williams (by video conference) (for items 50/22 onwards)

CCW staff:

• Tim Clarke, Interim Director of Communications
• Gemma Domican, Executive Head of Transformation, Strategy and People
• Mike Keil, Senior Director of Policy, Research and Campaigns
• Simon Millward, Executive Head of Business Services
• Alison Townsend, Board Secretary

47/22 Welcome, introduction and apologies

47.1 The Chair welcomed members to the meeting. Apologies for absence had been received from Lisa Tennant and Rob Wilson.

47.2 The Chair gave a brief introduction to the meeting and reflected on the key items of business for the Board that day.

48/22 Declarations of Interest

48.1 Bev Keogh reported that she had entered into a number of coaching contracts with individuals that were associated with water companies; the register of Interests had been updated to include these. The new interests were not considered relevant to the matters before the Board and Bev remained in the meeting.

49/22 Minutes, matters arising and outstanding actions & Committee minutes

Board Minutes

49.1 The Board agreed the minutes of its meeting held on 27 September and 21 October 2022 as a true record. There were no matters arising from the minutes not covered elsewhere on the agenda for this meeting.

Outstanding Actions and Electronic Business

49.2 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on progress with actions from past meetings and items of electronic business. Two actions were marked to be discharged and there had been no items of electronic business since the last meeting.

The Board agreed to discharge the actions at previous minute references 7/22 and 25/22.

Reports from Board Committees

HR and Remuneration Committee

49.3 The Board received the minutes of the meeting of the HR & Remuneration Committee held on 21 September 2022; the Board had already received an oral update on the Committee meeting at its meeting on 27 September 2022 (minute 31.4/22 refers).

Committee for Wales

49.4 The Board received the minutes of the meeting of the Committee for Wales held on 23 September 2022; the Board had already received an oral update on the Committee meeting at its meeting on 27 September 2022 (minute 31.5/22 refers).

Committee for England

49.5 The Board received the minutes and a supplementary oral update from the Committee Chair on the meeting of the Committee for England held on 30 September 2022. The Board noted that the benefits of the new Committees were being seen beyond the meetings for example contact with Surfers Against Sewage; the Board recognised the way that discussions initiated at the meetings were continuing in other forums.

Audit & Risk Management Committee

49.6 The Board received the minutes and a supplementary oral update from the committee Chair on the meeting of the Audit and Committee for England held on 5 October 2022. Matters discussed at the meeting had included two reports of recent internal audit reviews and the new Data Protection Policy for CCW. The Board noted that the Committee had agreed to extend the contract for internal audit services with RSM for a further two years; the contract would now end on 31 March 2025

50/22 CEO Commentary

50.1 The Board considered and noted an update by the Chief Executive on current operational matters at CCW. The Chief Executive drew the Board’s attention to a number of key issues/activities including:-

• Tim Clarke was present at the meeting as Interim Director of Communications. Helen Brown was due to join CCW as Director of Consumer Relations the following week;
• Therese Coffey had been appointed as new Secretary of State for the Environment and had previous awareness of CCW from her previous role as Water Minister;
• [redacted: prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs];
• CCW had visited Nuneaton over two days in October and held drop in sessions to support the Don’t Suffer in Silence Campaign. Advice had been provided on the support available when things go wrong and was also an opportunity for customers to voice their wider views and questions on the water sector;
• current performance against the Consumer Relations target to acknowledge 95% of complaints within five working days was 66%. The Board noted that there had been a 49% increase contacts in August 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. The increase was associated with the extreme hot weather in August that had coincided with a period of staff holiday. The Board acknowledged the consequences of increased awareness of CCW on levels of contact; and
• the staff survey had recently closed. Responses had been very high at 85% and although there had been a small dip in employee engagement numbers it was smaller than the survey providers had seen elsewhere and was in the context of the reorganisation of the two largest teams. Work was taking place to understand the causes for the drop in engagement and develop an engagement plan.

50.2 The Board discussed issues raised in the update particularly the Consumer Relations performance and suggested that the contacts be analysed to understand if there was anything companies should be doing to communicate better with their customers and prevent the contact. It was also suggested that it might be appropriate to adjust performance targets during times of significant stress.

51/22 Finance Report to September 2022

51.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that provided an update on CCW’s financial position to end September 2022. The Board noted that the position at end of September was an underspend of £118k. Since then a full review had taken place to understand the position and an underspend of £307k was now forecast. The Executive Team had identified a number of measures to close the gap and more frequent monitoring was taking place.

51.2 The Board received a further update on the position with ICT and was updated on a number of actions that were underway including work with the Cyber Security Council and the development of an IT Risk Register.

52/22 Forward Work Programme Update

52.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on the delivery of CCW’s Forward Work Programme (FWP) and associated issues that had emerged since the last Board meeting. The Board received a supplementary oral update and the following activities were highlighted to the Board:-

• Thames Water had announced it would be lifting its hosepipe ban;
• guidance on affordability and acceptability research for PR24 had been sent to companies;
• Ofwat had announced the 2021/22 ODI penalties/rewards the previous week. Thames Water and Southern Water had both received penalties and United Utilities and Severn Trent had both received awards for their performance. Across all companies the net result of all penalties/rewards was a £4.9m penalty;
• the next round of quarterly meetings with companies were due to commence shortly and areas for discussion would include learnings from the meetings of the Committees for England and Wales; and
• downloads of CCW’s Waterfall podcast had reached 2,000.

52.2 The Board discussed the paper and particularly asked:-

• with reference the work with Water UK to identify opportunities to raise awareness of the support available for water customers in response to cost of living challenges if companies were doing enough in this area. The Board was advised that while good work was being done a single social tariff was needed; and
• if initiatives such as the Accelerated Investment Programme, Green Recovery and Innovation Fund risked eroding the price review process. There was a recognition that this was likely and the Board noted that CCW and regulators had made this point.

53/22 Board forward Look

53.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the forward look of business for Board meetings through to March 2024. The Board noted that the precise timings of business would flex over the year as issues emerge and priorities change. The Board suggested an update on ICT be added in March 2023; this would be added to the Forward Look on the understanding that the precise timing may need to be adjusted. Action: A Townsend

The Board approved the Forward Look of business for the CCW Board to March 2024 with the addition set out above.

54/22 Draft Forward Work Programme/Licence Fee 2023/24

54.1 The Board considered and a paper that presented the draft Forward Work Programme (FWP) for 2022/23; the Board had provided strategic input to the document at its recent strategy day. The Board noted that it was proposed to keep the licence fee at 26p per customer bill and that CCW would need to absorb inflationary costs. CCW was required to formally consult on its FWP and this would commence in early January 2023. As some small adjustments go the FWP document may be needed before consultation the Board was asked to authorise the Chair and Chief Executive to approve the final consultation draft.

54.2 The Board discussed the paper particularly:-

• plans to keep the items that didn’t make it into the FWP live/under review. The Board was advised that a delivery plan sat alongside the FWP and included those items that could be dialled up or down depending on capacity. The Delivery Plan that included these items would be presented to the Board alongside the FWP in March 2023;
• If there were any items from the COP 27 conference that impacted CCW’s plans. The Board was advised that the FWP already included People and The Environment as a key programme; no further change was needed; and
• The board made some minor suggestions to improve the drafting of the FWP. It was possible some further amendments may be required ahead of the consultation launch in January and the Board agreed the Chair and CEO should jointly sign off any subsequent changes to the FWP.

Action: R Light/E Clancy

The Board :-

1. approved CCW’s draft 2023/24 strategy for public consultation in January 2023; and
2. delegated authority to agree the final Forward Work Programme document to be consulted on to the Chair and Chief Executive jointly.

55/22 ADR Update

55.1 The Board considered and a paper that updated it on the work to create a one-stop shop for mediation and adjudication at CCW. The paper presented a roadmap that set out key activities for the project through to November 2023 when the ADR scheme was scheduled to go live at CCW. The paper also sought the Board’s approval to proceed with a procurement exercise for the adjudication service and recommended the Board agree that Bev Keogh should provide support and guidance to the procurement process.

55.2 The Board enquired about stakeholder views on the changes and was updated on the engagement activity underway. The Board noted that companies were generally positive about the change and the potential gains it would bring. The Board asked about engagement with business retailers and was advised that retailers would be given the opportunity to access the new scheme run by CCW and that some retailers were already using the current industry scheme.

56/22 Business Case: Customer Relations Management (CRM) system license
56.1 The Board considered a paper that presented a business case for the extension to the current contract with Oracle for the Consumer Relations Management system used at CCW. The Board heard that CCW had used the Oracle system since 2008 and planned to explore the market for alternative systems that may better suit CCW’s needs. The extension to the contract with Oracle to 28 February 2025 would give CCW time to scope, procure and implement a new system and also enable the new Consumer Relations Director time to take up post and input into the process.

The Board agreed that CCW should extend the contract with its current CRM system provider Oracle for two years to 28 February 2025 at a total cost of £78,600.

57/22 Indicative Tariff Changes 2023/24

57.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on indicative charges for 2023/24 and issues emerging from ongoing discussions with water companies on this subject. The Board heard that the current inflationary climate was driving bill increases and that, for some companies, previous under recovery was driving substantially higher increases. CCW had written a joint letter with Ofwat to ask companies to consider what they could do to keep bill increases down in the current economic climate. The Board noted that the charges quoted in the paper were the average for each company and the actual increase would be a range around the increase indicated.

57.2 The Board discussed issues raised in and associated with the paper including:-

• the potential impact of increased water efficiency on metered charges income resulting from water efficiency. The Board was advised that the standing charges were considerably less significant that charges for water in the figures presented;
• what action CCW could take in relation to the proposed bill increases. The Board noted that feedback was regularly given to Ofwat on this matter and that policy managers discussed the matter with companies; changes had been seen as a result of these discussions. The Board noted that the push by Defra for companies to bring forward investments to help with water resources and improve the environment before to the next price review increased the complexity of this process;
• If there was any learning from the recent price increases in the energy sector that could be applied to this process. The Board noted that there had been calls for collaboration across sectors although this would not mean joint price setting. The Board heard about some work that had taken place in this area.

57.3 The Board thanked the report author for setting out a complicated topic in an accessible paper.

58/22 Business Case: Water Matters research – annual household customer tracking research

58.1 The Board considered a paper that presented a business case for the procurement of a three year contract for CCW’s Water Matters research. The Board heard that this tracking survey supported both CCW’s discussions with companies and its communications and influencing activities. The benefits of a three year contract were briefly outlined to the Board and it was noted that the contract would include clauses to enable early termination if necessary. Costs for the work were expected to be approximately £150k/year which was a slight increase compared to the current contract.

58.2 The Board enquired about the work to be completed by the supplier and this was briefly set out.

The Board that CCW should launch a procurement exercise to secure a multi-year contract (1 year plus an option to extend for a further two years) for CCW’s Water Matters research to 2026 at a total contract value of £450,000.

59/22 Value of Past Research Programme

59.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that the research completed in 2020/21, how that research had been used and the value that it had generated. The Board noted that while the paper looked at how the research had been used over the last financial year the outputs were relevant and were utilised beyond that time period. The Board noted that CCW’s research activity had increased in 2020/21 and that this work was regularly referenced in CCW’s communications activity and media messaging.

60/22 CCW Research Programme – mid year update

60.1 The Board received a short presentation that updated it on the current research programme as at approximately mid-year. The Board heard that the new approaches taken to obtaining customer views, including a flexible research contract, citizens’ forum and collaborative research had enhanced CCW’s influence. Testing the Waters and Water Matters had both been underway at the start of the financial year and both were on track with the latest Water Matters research published in July 2022. The Board noted that some additional research activities had been identified to utilise the forecast underspend (minute 51.1/22 above also refers).

61/22 Other Business

61.1 There were no other items of business.

62/22 Review of Meeting

62.1 The Board reviewed its meeting with reference to the agreed Board Principles and CCW’s values. The Board agreed that the papers presented and the supplementary presentations had enabled it to focus on the key issues. The Board recognised the link between the CCW’s agreed Forward Work Programme and the papers presented to the Board.

63/22 Next meeting

63.1 The next Board meeting would be at 11.00 on Tuesday 24 January 2023.

Meeting closed at 14:30

Minutes meeting held at 11:00 on Friday 21 October 2022 Novotel, 70 Broad Street, Birmingham.

Present:-

CCW Board:

• Alison Austin
• Emma Clancy
• Bev Keogh
• Rob Light (Chair)
• Rachel Onikosi

CCW staff:

• Hannah Bradley, Head of Evidence & Insights
• Tim Clarke, Interim Director of Communications
• Gemma Domican, Executive Head of Transformation, Strategy and People
• Cath Jones, Head of Company Engagement
• Mike Keil, Senior Director of Policy, Research and Campaigning
• Simon Millward, Executive Head of Business Services
• Alison Townsend, Board Secretary

42/22 Welcome, introduction and apologies

Welcome/apologies

42.1 The Chair welcomed members to the meeting. Apologies for absence had been received from Lisa Tennant, Rhodri Williams and Rob Wilson.

43/22 Declarations of Interest

43.1 There were no declarations of interest relevant to the business before the Board.

44/22 2021/22 Annual Report and Accounts

44.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the 2021/22 Annual Report and Accounts (ARA) to the Board for approval. The Audit and Risk Management Committee had reviewed the ARA at a meeting the previous day.

44.2 The Chair of the Audit and Risk Management Committee briefly updated the Board on the outcome of that meeting at which the Committee had agreed to recommend the Board approved the 2021/22 ARA. The Board noted that NAO had issued a clean audit report with no qualifications. The Audit Committee had discussed the introduction of the new accounting standard IFRS16 that concerned leases; a transitional statement was included in the 2021/22 ARA ahead of full implementation in 2022/23. The Board noted that six minor adjustment had been made to the ARA since it had been circulated to the Board and these were outlined to the Board.

44.3 The Board was briefly updated on the process for the ARA before it was laid in Parliament.

The Board approved the 2021/22 Annual Report and Accounts.

[Note: Rhodri Williams had been delayed was not present at the meeting. He had sent a message to advise that he was happy to approve the ARA]

45/22 Other Business

45.1 There were no other items of business for the Board.

46/22 Next Meeting

46.1 The next Board meeting would be on Tuesday 22 November 2022.

Meeting closed at 11:10

Minutes of the meeting held at 11:30 on 27 September 2022 at the CCW offices, 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham.

Present:-

CCW Board:

• Alison Austin
• Emma Clancy
• Bev Keogh (by video conference)
• Rob Light (Chair)
• Rachel Onikosi
• Lisa Tennant
• Rhodri Williams (by video conference)
• Rob Wilson (by video conference)

CCW staff:

• Amanda Caton, Director of Communications
• Gemma Domican, Executive Head of Transformation, Strategy and People
• Sarah Floyd, Customer Excellence Manager (for item 38/22 below only)
• Mike Keil, Senior Director of Policy, Research and Campaigns
• Simon Millward, Executive Head of Business Services
• Alison Townsend, Board Secretary

29/22 Welcome, introduction and apologies

29.1 The Chair welcomed members to the meeting and particularly welcomed Simon Millward, new Executive Head of Business Services, to his first meeting. There were no apologies for absence.

29.2 The Chair reported that the Secretary of State had recently confirmed the extension of Alison Austin and Rob Wilson’s terms on the CCW Board to 30 December 2023. The Chair’s term had been extended to 5 December 2023.

29.3 The Chair gave a brief introduction to the meeting and reflected on the key items of business for the Board that day.

30/22 Declarations of Interest

30.1 Rachel Onikosi reported that she had been appointed as Panel Chair of the Nursing and Midwifery Council Fitness to Practice Committee; Rachel’s entry in the register of interests had been updated to reflect this.

30.2 Rachel Onikosi declared an interest in the matter the subject of item 34/22 below, particularly paragraph 7, insofar as it related to economic abuse because she was a Trustee of Victim Support. The interest was not regarded as significant and Rachel remained in the meeting for this item.

30.3 Rob Light declared an interest in in the matter the subject of item 34/22 below, particularly paragraphs 28-31, insofar as it related to the business retail market because he was a retail business customer. The interest was not regarded as significant and Rob remained in the meeting for this item.

31/22 Minutes, matters arising and outstanding actions & Committee minutes

Board Minutes

31.1 The Board agreed the minutes of its meeting held on 26 July 2022 as a true record subject to an addition to minute 20.3. There were no matters arising from the minutes not covered elsewhere on the agenda for this meeting.

Outstanding Actions and Electronic Business

31.2 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on progress with actions from past meetings and items of electronic business. One action was marked to be discharged and there had been no items of electronic business since the last meeting.

The Board agreed to discharge the actions at previous minute reference 15 /22.

Reports from Board Committees

HR and Remuneration Committee

31.3 The Board received the minutes of the meeting of the HR & Remuneration Committee held on 25 July 2022; the Board had already received an oral update on the Committee meeting at its meeting on 26 July 2022 (minute 16.5/22 refers).

31.4 The Board received a short update from the Chair of the HR and Remuneration Committee on the meeting that had taken place on 21 September 2022. Items considered had included a new dashboard containing key HR metrics that the Committee had found helpful and a new HR strategy. The Committee had also reviewed and commented on the paper ‘CCW Pay’ that was due to be considered by the Board later in this meeting (minute 37/22 below refers). .

Committee for Wales

31.5 The Chair of the Committee for Wales updated the Board on the meeting of the Committee on 23 September. The topic for discussion had been ‘Environmental Transparency’ and the Committee had heard from a range of speakers including an artist who had talked about a community’s relationship with a river. There had been general agreement that increased transparency and data would enable people to make informed decisions.

32/22 CEO Commentary

32.1 The Board considered and noted an update by the Chief Executive on current operational matters at CCW. The Chief Executive drew the Board’s attention to a number of key issues/activities including:-

• Simon Millward, Executive Head of Business Services had joined CCW on 26 September;
• [redacted: personal information];
• the summer period had been exceptionally busy with unprecedented scrutiny linked with the spell of exceptionally hot weather and associated drought. The levels of activity had exposed organisational constraints and work was planned to build capacity and capability;
• a new Secretary of State had been appointed and CCW was seeking to understand his priorities;
• the 2021/22 financial audit had been challenging and was not yet complete. The sign off by the Board had been scheduled for this Board meeting but had been deferred and was now planned for 21 October;
• the Board was updated on the process to review and revise CCW’s strategy; the work on this would be brought together for the Board Strategy event on 21 October; and
• the Board was updated on Communications activity during the drought period and how this had been managed across the organisation including the use of targeted social media and the launch of CCW’s new ‘Waterfall’ podcast.

32.2 The Board discussed issues raised in the update including how CCW would respond in the event of a dry winter followed by another hot summer in 2023. The Board heard how CCW was planning to continue the drought discussion into the winter to explain the impact that behaviours in the winter can have on water resources generally. This activity would be complimented by policy work around consumption and the social contract. The Board suggested that CCW could look outside the UK to identify best practice and learning from elsewhere and heard that discussions were taking place with organisations overseas. There was a recognition that there were many opportunities for learning in this area.

32.3 The Board asked if there was an indication about the new Government’s position on the Single Social Tariff. The Board was advised that work was underway to engage on this matter although no feedback had been received to date.

33/22 ICT Update

33.1 The Board considered a paper that updated the Board on ICT issues in particular the plan to utilise the £100k available for ICT in the 2022/23 budget and the recommendations outstanding from the internal audit that had looked at IT Security arrangements in 2019/20.

33.2 An update on the position with the audit recommendations and proposals to address these was annexed to the paper and had been discussed with CCW’s internal auditors the previous day. The auditors had been generally satisfied with the position set out and had recommended that CCW carries out an assessment of the risk associated with the actions that cannot be completed because of budgetary constraints to understand the risk that the organisation would be carrying.

33.2 The Board was advised that CCW’s videoconferencing supplier StarLeaf had gone into administration and so CCW would be moving to Microsoft Teams at a cost of £41,851. Consideration was being given to options for a new HR system for CCW and it was possible the remaining IT funds would be utilised for that.

33.3 The Board reviewed the paper and asked if there was any merit in developing an IT strategy. The Board was advised that some work had been completed on this including the scoping of improvements and the development of a wishlist, however, CCW did not currently have the in house capability to develop a formal IT strategy nor the resources to buy this in. Central government teams had been approached to understand if they could support this process but there had been no response. The Board noted that the current IT manager would be leaving CCW shortly and asked if that was an opportunity to bring in different skills. This was confirmed and the Board noted that work was taking place to scope the skills required for a temporary resource. The Board was assured that it was CCW’s ambition to have an IT strategy in place but it was not currently the right time for this to be developed.

33.4 The Board recognised that IT was a difficult area to manage, particularly for a small organisation. The Board suggested that the use of a smaller outsourced IT provider, where CCW’s monthly spend was more significant for them, might mean CCW received better support. The Board enquired if moving the ADR process to CCW could be a driver to improve IT; the Board was advised that consideration was being given to this aspect of that work.

The Board endorsed the proposals to address the recommendations from the Data Security Internal Audit.

34/22 Forward Work Programme Update

34.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on the delivery of CCW’s Forward Work Programme (FWP) and associated issues that had emerged since the last Board meeting. The Board received a supplementary oral update and heard that the period since the last Board meeting had been challenging because of increased activity associated with the drought and the sudden death of David Hope. The following activities were highlighted to the Board:-

• a meeting earlier that day with the Welsh Minsters for Climate Change and for Social Justice; both had indicated their support for the Single Social Tariff;
• CCW’s response to Ofwat’s consultation on the PR24 methodology had been submitted;
• changes to the Customer Protection Code of Practice to require retailers to automatically refund accrued credit to customers on an annual basis had been delayed because Ofwat was unable to consult on this until spring 2023.

35/22 Finance Report to July 2022

35.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that provided an update on CCW’s financial position to end July 2022 and was updated orally on the position at end August 2022. The Board noted that the position at end August was an underspend of £98k largely driven by lower staff and travel and subsistence (T&S) costs. The Board was advised that T&S had been hard to predict because of the uncertainty of the post Covid recovery and new ways of working that had been introduced during lockdown. A full review of all cost centres was planned.

36/22 Risk Appetite – annual review

36.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the outcome of a review of the risk appetite that the Board had developed in autumn 2020. The paper evaluated how CCW was living the risk appetite and looked at external influences that could impact the risk appetite over the coming year.

36.2 The review had found that the freedom provided by the risk appetite to flex to a ‘risk hungry’ stance had supported CCW’s activities. This was considered particularly important at the moment while CCW awaited the policies and priorities of the new Government to emerge.

36.3 The Board went on to discuss the paper and recognised the need for flexibility, towards both a risk hungry and risk averse stance, in the current of period of Government change; the ability of the risk appetite to permit this was considered a benefit. The Board recognised the change in the organisation’s approach/behaviour since this risk appetite had been introduced and suggested there was a role for the Board to check if the Executive was being hungry enough in its approach.

36.3 The Board suggested that it would be useful for future reviews to include the Board’s perspective on the application of the risk appetite; this would be included in the 2023 review. Action A Townsend

The Board agreed that the risk appetite it developed in autumn 2020 remained appropriate for CCW.

37/22 CCW Pay

37.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that outlined the context and constraints within which CCW’s pay policy operated. [redacted: prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs] The paper had been reviewed by the HR & Remuneration Committee at its meeting on 21 September 2022 (its minute 20/22 refers). The Board noted that CCW was limited in the action it could take to address the issues and limitations outlined in the paper.

37.2 The Board suggested that, given the current conditions in the employment market, CCW would need to actively promote the alternative benefits of working for the organisation. The Board heard about the work taking place on this already including the development of a recruitment video and the promotion of CCW’s mission to potential candidates. The Board discussed the difficulties in attracting high calibre diverse candidates and was advised that CCW was beginning to attract more diverse candidates, in the broadest sense, and that they had referenced CCW’s recruitment video as a driver for their application.

38/22 Customer Case

38.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that presented two recent customer cases. In the first case CCW had helped a customer to understand and navigate the process for dealing with a suspected leak on his property. A leak allowance and gesture of goodwill had been negotiated for the customer and the customer had written to recognise the work completed by CCW and asked that this be relayed to the Board.

38.2 In the second case CCW had represented a school that had invested in a rainwater harvesting system that had not been properly recognised in reduced drainage charges. CCW had obtained a reassessment of the charges which resulted in a reduction in the charging band applied to the school.

38.3 The Board was pleased to receive examples of CCW’s work to support vulnerable customers. The Board discussed a number of issues associated with the cases presented:-

• if there was evidence that companies were learning from these sorts of cases. The Board was assured that cases were shared with companies through the liaison process and the issues identified highlighted to companies;
• how long it typically took for cases to be resolved. The Board heard that this varied and gave an example of a case received in August that had been resolved within a week. It was expected that the new end to end case handling process would help reduce the case handling time;
• if the school case could be shared to encourage other schools to invest to save. The Board was advised that CCW had been discussing water literacy with DfE and had also raised this matter although; it was noted that companies took differing approaches to surface water drainage. The Board also noted that CCW had an ambition to make more use of Consumer Relations data to influence change in the sector.

39/22 Other Business

2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts

39.1 The Chair reported that the audit of the 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts (ARA) had been delayed and so there would be a short single item Board meeting before the Board Strategy event on 21 October to approve the ARA.

Board Apprentice Initiative

39.2 The Chair reported that CCW had been invited to be involved with an Board Apprentice initiative being led by Cabinet Office. The Board was briefly updated on the background to the role.

40/22 Review of Meeting

40.1 The Board reviewed its meeting with reference to the agreed Board Principles and CCW’s values. The Board recognised the importance of hearing about customers at its meetings;

28/21 Next meeting

28.1 The next Board meeting would be at 11.00 on Tuesday 22 November 2022.

Meeting closed at 14:25

Minutes of the meeting held at 11:30 on 26 July 2022 at the CCW offices, 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham.

Present:-

CCW Board:

• Alison Austin
• Emma Clancy
• Bev Keogh (by video conference)
• Rob Light (Chair)
• Rachel Onikosi
• Lisa Tennant
• Rhodri Williams
• Rob Wilson

CCW staff:

• Christina Blackwell, Head of Business Customers (for items 24 and 25/22 only)
• Nicola Brown Director of Consumer Relations
• Amanda Caton, Director of Communications
• Gemma Domican, Executive Head of Transformation, Strategy and People
• David Hope, Head of Company Engagement (for items 24 and 25/22 only)
• Cath Jones, Head of Company Engagement (for items 24 and 25/22 only)
• Mike Keil, Senior Director of Policy, Research and Campaigns
• Claire Thomas, Consumer Experience Manager (for item 24/22 only)
• Alison Townsend, Board Secretary

14/22 Welcome, introduction and apologies

14.1 The Chair welcomed members to the meeting. There were no apologies for absence.

14.2 The Board had participated in a short informal session that looked at the draft PR24 methodology that had been published by Ofwat recently. The Board thanked Steve Hobbs for a useful and informative presentation.

14.3 The Chair gave a brief introduction to the meeting and reflected on the key items of business for the Board that day. He went on to update the Board on his recent activities/relevant news which had included:-

• CCW had hosted a forum with water company Chairs; feedback on the event had been positive and the CCW Chair would be meeting company Chairs individually shortly;
• an introductory meeting with the new Ofwat Chair; the Board received a short overview of the session;
• former CCW Chair Alan Lovell had recently been appointed as Chair of the EA; and
• the Government Hub at 23 Stephenson Street would be formally opened on 28 July.

15/22 Declarations of Interest

15.1 Rachel Onikosi reported that she had been invited to be involved in public appointment engagement initiatives via the Cabinet Office, Public Chairs Forum and Gatenby Sanderson. Details of this change would be forwarded to the Board Secretary to be added to CCW’s register of interests.

Action: R Onikosi

15.2 There were no declarations of interest relevant to the matters before the Board.

16/22 Minutes, matters arising and outstanding actions & Committee minutes

Board Minutes

16.1 The Board agreed the minutes of its meeting held on 24 May 2022 as a true record. There were no matters arising from the minutes not covered elsewhere on the agenda for this meeting.

Outstanding Actions and Electronic Business

16.2 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on progress with actions from past meetings and items of electronic business. Two actions were marked to be discharged and there had been no items of electronic business since the last meeting.

The Board agreed to discharge the actions at previous minutes reference 77.6/21 and 3.7/22.

Reports from Board Committees

Audit and Risk Management Committee

16.3 The Board considered and noted the minutes of the meeting of the Audit and Risk Management Committee held on 13 July 2022. The Committee Chair briefly updated the Board on the matters discussed at the meeting which had included a short ‘nugget training session’ on Environmental, Social Governance, plans for the 2021/22 financial audit that was due to be completed in the second half of August 2022 and CCW’s risk register. The Board noted that two new risks that had recently been added to the register by the Executive Team and the Committee had been pleased to see the register being used actively.

16.4 The Chair of the Audit and Risk Management Committee introduced the Committee’s annual report to the Board. The Chair explained that the report was intended to provide assurance to the Board on the work completed by the Committee and an overview of that work. The Committee noted the report.

Human Resources and Remuneration Committee

16.5 The Board received a brief update on the meeting of the Human Resources & Remuneration Committee held on 25 July 2022 from its Chair. The key item for the Committee had been employee pay proposals for 2022/23 and the Committee had made a number of challenges to the process and proposals and had been reassured by the explanation given. The Committee had approved the proposals.

17/22 CEO Commentary

17.1 The Board considered and noted an update by the Chief Executive Board on current operational matters at CCW. The Chief Executive drew the Board’s attention to a number of key issues/activities including:-

• a joint summit with Ofwat on sewer flooding;
• CCW’s appearance before House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee in relation to its inquiry into Ofwat. The meeting was available to view on Parliament TV; The committee had reflected some of the points made in our evidence in their questioning of others and had asked for a further submission from CCW on behavioural change.
• recent communications work in relation to the recent spell of exceptionally hot weather including both proactive and reactive items on both radio and TV;
• three podcasts had been recorded and would be launched shortly including one looking at water resources issues.

17.2 The Board discussed issues raised in the update including the possibility of a formal Government review of CCW in the next year and the outcomes of the changes to ways of working in CR that had been piloted recently.

18/22 Forward Work Programme Delivery Update

18.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that presented an update on the delivery of the FWP and associated issues. The Board noted that:-

• the report ‘Independent review of water affordability – one year on‘ had been published; the board had received an overview of the report at its last meeting (minute 8/22 refers);
• South West Water had been added to the five enforcement cases opened by Ofwat in March 2022. The Board noted that CCW would be meeting all wastewater companies soon to discuss their plans to rebuild trust in this area;
• two areas of joint work were being explored with MOSL and were briefly outlined to the Board;
• CCW had hosted Regulatory Directors’ Forum for the sector in June and presented its PR24 objectives and methodology ‘wish list’; positive feedback had been received on the event;
• the horizontal audit to examine the approach to the recording of complaints across companies was making good progress and the outputs would inform the 2022 household complaints report;
• CCW was working with companies to agree consistent wording on customer bills to signpost customers to about to be implemented ahead of the 2023/24 billing process;

18.2 The Board discussed the paper and asked about the definition of environmental performance used in the reviews being undertaken by Ofwat; the Board was advised that this had been determined by Ofwat. The Board noted that the meetings of the Committees for England and Wales scheduled for the autumn would be exploring what information people want and how people want to receive about company environmental performance.

18.3 The Board noted that it was planned to write to the Education Minister to ask that water literacy be included in the curriculum and enquired if a similar action was planned in Wales. This was confirmed and the Board noted that this piece of work had been delayed by recent changes in Ministerial responsibility.

19/22 Finance Report to May 2022

19.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that provided an update on CCW’s financial position to end May 2022 and was updated orally on the position at end June 2022. The position at end June was an £8k underspend which amounted to 1% of the overall budget.

19.2 The Board asked how the ‘unallocated budget’ would be used and the approach to allocating this element of the budget, which was managed by the Executive Team, was briefly outlined.

20/22 ICT Strategy Update

20.1 The Board considered a paper that updated it on work to define an ICT strategy for CCW. The paper set out the benefits that CCW wanted to realise from its ICT provision and the Board recognised the need for the ICT infrastructure to support the delivery of CCW’s Forward Work Programme. The Board heard that CCW had engaged with the current outsourced ICT provider to gain an insight into its future ICT provision including potential costs and timeframes; the exercise had indicated costs in the order of £277k. The Board noted that budgetary provision for the ICT strategy in 2022/23 was £100k including VAT; given likely cuts to public sector funding it was unclear if funding for this work would be available in future years.

20.2 The Board was advised that the contract with CCW’s current ICT provider was due to end in August 2023 and any new contract would need to go through a public procurement process; CCW needed to be clear about its ICT requirements ahead of any procurement process. The paper proposed that CCW secure specialist support to help develop these requirements and CCW’s digital strategy. The Board was also advised that CCW’s videoconferencing supplier had recently gone into administration and the introduction of Microsoft Teams was currently being explored. Both of these items would need to be funded from the £100k ICT provision in 2022/23.

20.3 The Board discussed the proposals and emphasised the need for a clear understanding of the organisations ICT and a clear need for the ICT strategy to link to the organisational requirements and strategy. The need for any adjustments that may be needed to CCW’s current systems, for example the introduction of Microsoft Teams, to not impact any long term solution was also recognised, as was the need to address current risks to CCW’s systems that had been identified by the internal auditors. The Board suggested that central government digital teams might be able to provide support; this would be investigated.

Action: Executive Team

20.4 The Board enquired how the recommendations from the Internal Audit review of data security that had been put on hold to take forward as part of the ICT strategy would be progressed. The Board was advised that costs to address these immediately had been sought but the recommendations would also need to be considered as part of the procurement exercise to determine the best way forward and avoid abortive costs.

The Board:-

1. agreed that CCW should launch a procurement activity in 2022/23 for the renewal of its ICT Service contract supported by an ICT change program to understand CCW’s ICT needs now and in the future.
2. asked for an update on progress on this piece of work at its next meeting.

21/22 Annual Review of the Code of Governance

21.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the outcome of the annual review of CCW’s Code of Governance; proposed changes were marked up on the paper presented together with an explanation for that change. The Board noted the reference to the Deputy Chair in the document and asked about this position. The Chair explained he had decided not to appoint to the post at this time but that the matter was kept under review.

The Board approved the proposed changes to the Code of Governance.

22/22 Dates for Board meetings in 2023/24

22.1 The Board considered a paper that presented dates for its meetings in 2023/24; the Board had been consulted on these dates ahead of the paper being drafted. The Chair explained that meetings would usually be at the CCW offices in Birmingham but noted it was proposed to hold one meeting a year at the office in Cardiff.

The Board approved the proposed dates for its meetings in 2023/24.

23/22 Board Forward Look

23.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the updated Board Forward Look to end March 2024. The Board was advised that the dates for meetings in 2023/24 (minute 22/22 above refers) had been added to the Forward Look and items of business mapped against them. The Board noted that the Forward Look was a live document that flexed to respond to the business need and presented the work for the Board at that point in time.

The Board approved the Board Forward Look to March 2024.

24/22 Governance Models to support one stop shop for mediation and adjudication

24.1 The Board considered a paper that set out options for governance models to create a vehicle for CCW to establish a one stop shop for mediation and adjudication. The proposal would reduce the complaints handling process for water sector from four to three stages. The Board heard that the process was currently procured and managed by Resolving Water Disputes (RWD) and the service operated under the WATRS brand. Legal advice had been obtained on the matter and was annexed to the paper presented, Defra and Welsh Government had also been kept updated on the proposals.

24.2 The Board discussed the options including:-

• recognising that the use of the service by companies was voluntary, how confident could CCW be that they would sign up for it. The Board was advised that the current WATRS scheme had been in place for some time and companies were happy with it and saw the advantages that it brought; the risk that companies would not sign up for the new services was not considered to be significant;
• if the current WATRS scheme had responsibilities in Scotland and Northern Ireland, the Board was advised that it did not;
• the anticipated resource requirements to run the scheme. The Board was advised that further work was needed to clarify this but the aim was ultimately for the scheme to be self-funding; and
• the timescales for the introduction of the new arrangements. The Board heard that these would need to be in place by October 2023.

The Board agreed that that CCW should pursue the procurement and management of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Scheme for the water sector in house at CCW.

25/22 Escalation Framework Deep Dive

25.1 The Board received a presentation that looked at those issues that were at all three levels on CCW’s escalation framework and how this had changed since the last update of this type in February 2022. The Board received a brief overview of the escalation framework and noted that the framework did not take account of external factors such as the DWI Annual Report because the framework looked at issues that CCW was trying to tackle with companies.

25.2 The Board discussed issues raised in and associated with the presentation particularly:-

• if the Havant Thicket reservoir would solve the issues around over abstraction from the River Test; the Board was advised that the reservoir alone would not solve the problem and;
• actions taken by Thames Water to address the known problems. The Board heard that the change to the Senior Team at Thames Water had brought about cultural change; examples of practical activities included the introduction of a triage process for complaints and enhanced customer communications.

25.3 The Board asked for background information on the NHH retailers. A webinar had been held on this and would be rerun shortly as there were a number of new starters at CCW; Board members would be invited to the webinar.

Action: M Keil/A Townsend

26/22 Other Business

Training

26.1 The Chair referred to a recent e-mail asking Board members to complete a number of e-learning modules and reminded members of the importance of completing these.

27/22 Review of Meeting

27.1 The Board reviewed its meeting with reference to the agreed Board Principles and CCW’s values. There was a recognition that some of the discussion during the meeting had been more at a more detailed than strategic level and recognition that the style of the papers presented had a bearing on this.

28/21 Next meeting

28.1 The next Board meeting would be at 11.00 on Tuesday 27 September 2022.

Meeting closed at 15:30

Minutes of the meeting held at 11:30 on 24 May 2022 at the CCW offices, 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham.

Present:-

CCW Board:

• Alison Austin
• Emma Clancy
• Bev Keogh
• Rob Light (Chair)
• Rachel Onikosi (by videoconference)
• Lisa Tennant
• Rhodri Williams
• Rob Wilson

CCW staff:

• Nicola Brown Director of Consumer Relations
• Amanda Caton, Director of Communications
• Gemma Domican, Executive Head of Transformation, Strategy and People
• Steve Hobbs, Senior Leader, Economic Regulation (for item 9/22 only)
• Mike Keil, Senior Director of Policy, Research and Campaigns
• Claire Thomas, Consumer Experience Manager (for item 10/22 only)
• Alison Townsend, Board Secretary
• Andy White, Senior Leader, Social Policy (for item 8/22 only)

1/22 Welcome, introduction and apologies

1.1 The Chair welcomed members to the meeting. There were no apologies for absence.

1.2 The Board had participated in a short informal session that had explored the work CCW was doing to support hard to reach and vulnerable water customers. The Board thanked Janine Shackleton for an informative presentation that demonstrated CCW’s impact in this area.

1.3 The Chair gave a brief introduction to the meeting and reflected on the key items of business for the Board that day.

2/22 Declarations of Interest

2.1 Rob Light reported that he had been appointed to the Board of YES Energy Services from 1 May 2022. His entry in the register of interests had been updated to reflect this.

2.2 There were no declarations of interest relevant to the matters before the Board.

3/22 Minutes, matters arising and outstanding actions & Committee minutes

Board Minutes

3.1 The Board agreed the minutes of its meeting held on 3 February 2022 as a true record subject to a minor correction.

Matters Arising

80/21 – Membership of Board Committees

3.2 The Board was advised that there had been an error in the recommendations set out in paper 80/21, Review of Board Committee Membership, that had been considered at its last meeting. The table presented with the papers had shown that Bev Keogh was to be removed from the HR & Remuneration Committee but the recommendation in the paper did not make this clear. The Board was asked to reconsider this matter to correct the record; Bev had already informally stood down from the Committee.

The Board agreed that Bev Keogh be removed from the membership of the Human Resources and Remuneration Committee.

82(i)/21 – CCW Forward Work Programme 2022/23

3.3 The Board enquired if any changes had been made to the 2022/23 Forward Work Programme after it had been presented to the Board. The Board was advised that no further changes had been needed and the version presented to the Board had been published.

Outstanding Actions and Electronic Business

3.4 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on progress with actions from past meetings and items of electronic business. No actions were marked to be discharged and there had been no items of electronic business since the last meeting.

Committee for England 18 February 2022

3.5 The Board received the minutes of the meeting of the Committee for England held on 18 February 2022; the Board had been updated on the discussions at its March meeting.

Human Resources & Remuneration Committee 16 March & 19 May 2022

3.6 The Board received the minutes of the meetings of the Human Resources & Remuneration Committee held 16 March & 19 May 2022. The Committee Chair briefly updated the Board on the matters discussed at the meetings which in March had included an update on the 2021 staff survey and the cultural change work, the Committee had also thanked Karen Cropp for her contribution to CCW ahead of her retirement. In May the Committee had considered the CEO’s 2021/22 performance bonus and her objectives for 2022/23. The Committee had thanked Emma for the drive and determination she had shown in 2021/22.

3.7 The Board was pleased to see the positive trend in the results of the staff survey; the engagement plan that had been developed to respond to the results would be circulated to the Board.

Action: G Domican

Audit and Risk Management Committee 23 March 2022

3.8 The Board received the minutes of the meeting of the Audit and Risk Management Committee held on 23 March 2022. The Committee Chair briefly updated the Board on the matters discussed at the meetings and explained that the NAO had been experiencing staffing issues that had resulted in the deferment of CCW’s financial audit from May to September 2022; the Board noted that a final date had not yet been agreed for the audit. The Committee had also approved the 2022/23 Internal Audit Plan and reviewed the Risk Register; the Committee had been encouraged to hear that the Risk Register was being used actively.

3.9 The Board was frustrated by the delay to the financial audit but was reassured that NAO did not see CCW’s audit as contentious and had been able to reschedule it.

Committee for Wales 25 March 2022

3.10 The Board received the minutes of the meeting of the Committee for Wales held on 25 March 2022. The Committee Chair briefly updated the Board on the discussions at the meetings that had included good presentations that had been well received by delegates.

4/22 CEO Commentary

2.1 The Board considered and noted an update by the Chief Executive Board on current operational matters at CCW. The Chief Executive drew the Board’s attention to a number of key issues:-

• a detailed work plan had been created to support the delivery of the Forward Work Programme (FWP); progress against the plan was being managed centrally to give full oversight. The Board noted that a number of commitments had been published on CCW’s website. The Executive Team had spoken at a recent staff event about the FWP including how it had been set, priorities and the role all staff have to play in delivering the plan;
• CCW had recently appointed Gowling WLG as it’s legal partner and would be meeting them for an introductory session shortly;
• recent media attention on cuts to the Civil Service and Arm’s Length Bodies. CCW had discussed this with Defra and received confirmation the previous day that it was not currently included in the recruitment freeze or headcount reduction although this could change;
• recruitment was underway for the new Executive Head of Business Services. The Board noted that the market for candidates was strong and problems had been encountered with shortlisted candidates withdrawing from the process as they had been offered alternative positions;
• phase 1 of the website redevelopment work had been completed; and
• satisfaction with the Consumer Relations speed of service had increased from 48% in October to 61% in December.

4.2 The Board discussed issues raised in the report and associated matters including:-

• progress in returning to office based working. The Board was advised that CCW had been operating blended working arrangements in its Birmingham office for a year with high levels of support. The approach had been reviewed recently and it was proposed to continue the two days in the office/three days at home pattern; staff could attend the office for more than two days if they wished or if their work required this; and
• how the additional 1% increase in the pay pot would be allocated. The Board noted that CCW had been allowed a 2% increase in the pay pot for performance related pay increases and could bid for an additional 1% increase to target particular issues. It was intended that CCW would bid for the additional 1% and that this be targeted at addressing retention issues.

4.3 The Chair reflected on the current external environment with increased oversight and review of ALBs and suggested that CCW should be looking ahead and considering potential options for the future of the organisation. It was proposed that a small informal advisory group be established to explore and evaluate options; any recommendations arising from the work would be brought back to the Board as required.

The Board agreed that:-

1. an informal advisory group be established to explore options for the future of CCW;
2. Alison Austin, Rob Light and Rob Wilson would represent the Board on the advisory group.

5/22 Forward Work Programme Delivery Update

5.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that presented an update on the delivery of the FWP and associated issues. The Board heard that, in response to the Environmental Compliance investigation by Ofwat and the EA, CCW had indicated that it would be looking at company plans for transparency in reporting on environmental performance; CCW had now been formally asked to carry out this work. The Board was also advised that CCW had procured an independent horizontal audit to look at compliant definitions and to identify discrepancies. The outputs from the audit would inform the development of an action plan to support companies to improve.

5.2 The Board discussed issues arising from the report particularly:-

• background to the 2021 storm overflow data that had been published by the EA. The Board noted that while average number of spills from each CSO had reduced in 2021 this could be a result of drier weather rather than action taken by companies and that statistics should be read with caution;
• the Board welcomed the increased awareness of river quality issues but noted the terminology used was often difficult to understand; it was suggested that CCW could champion clarity of language in this area. The Board was briefly updated on the work taking place internally on CCW’s Tone of Voice and noted that work was taking place to make the language used on this subject more accessible;
• the position with the pilots on new ways of working underway in CR and the backlog of cases. The Board heard that the work in progress (WIP) level had stabilised and was between 700 and 750 cases and that in March the target for the closure of 80% of cases within 20 working days had been achieved for the first time in 18 months without affecting the WIP rate. The Board noted the pilot had been delayed by Covid and it was now expected that the new arrangements would go live towards the end of June/early July;
• how CCW could gain maximum value from its research. The Board was advised that increased insight was gained from layering the insights gained from various sources and was updated on how this approach had strengthened CCW’s positioning on customer views;

5.3 The Board welcomed the new approach to reporting on the FWP delivered in this paper.

6/22 Finance Report to March 2022

6.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that provides an update on CCW’s financial position to end March 2022. The Board noted that the year-end outturn was a £36k underspend that represented less than 1% of CCW’s overall budget. Discussions were taking place with Defra to agree how the £36k would be treated.

6.2 The Board enquired about the position with the dilapidation provision for CCW’s former offices. The Board was advised that confirmation had been received from NAO regarding the treatment of the provision in the accounts and the matter could now be finalised and settled.

6.3 The Board enquired about the position with the increase in the levy and was advised that this had been approved for 2022/23 and the budget had been set on this basis. There was a recognition that the current economic climate meant that it was now less likely that the levy could be increased in 2023/24.

7/22 Board Effectiveness Review

7.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the outcome of the 2021/22 Board Effectiveness Review and an action plan to respond to the issues arising from it. The Board discussed how it could gain insight from third parties and went on to consider potential external speakers; this would be explored further for the Board Strategy Session in October 2022.

Action: G Domican

The Board agreed the 2022 Board Effectiveness Action Plan

8/22 Affordability Review: one year on

8.1 The Board received a short presentation that looked at progress with the implementation of the recommendations of the 2021 Affordability Review and the ‘one year on’ report that was planned to be published in early July 2022. Of the ten recommendations contained in the report, 6 were currently green and 4 amber; the Board noted that there had always been an awareness that some of the recommendations would take longer to implement than others. The key outcomes of the review were outlined to the Board together with the focus for the future.

8.2 The Board discussed the presentation content and asked how consistency in the approach to implementation of the recommendations could be achieved across companies. The Board noted that CCW had been working on this over the previous 12 months and actions taken had included pilots and the sharing of ideas and good practice across companies. Meetings were planned for autumn 2022 to pick up areas where there was more work to do. The Board asked if good practice was shared outside the sector and heard about recent calls to learn about the Single Social Tariff from other sectors and also CCW’s role in the essential services network.

9/22 2024 Price Review Objectives

9.1 The Board considered a paper that presented objectives to guide CCW’s work on the 2024 price review. Six broad objectives were presented and the Board heard that the work to develop these had included research to understand customer views on CCW’s role in a price review. The Board noted that the price review process was lengthy and it may be necessary to flex the objectives to respond to changes during that period.

9.2 The Board discussed the proposed objectives and issues raised in the paper. There was concern that the customer research on the draft objectives had found that consumers are disengaged with their water services and asked if this was something CCW could address. The Board noted that CCW’s People and the Environment programme would raise awareness of the link between an individual’s actions and the environment and it was hoped the programme would be a catalyst for change. The Board was advised that the objectives would be published the following day with media activity planned to support this.

The Board endorsed the proposed PR24 Objectives for CCW.

10/22 Customer Case

10.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that presented two customer cases that demonstrated aspects of the new ways of working introduced in Consumer Relations. The first case had been managed in the new ways of working pilot and had been closed in two days; the Board noted that the team members involved in the pilot were enthused by the new approach. The second case concerned affordability issues and outlined the empathetic and supportive approach taken by the team. The Board was pleased to see positive outcomes from the new processes and looked forward to this continuing as the new arrangements were rolled out further

11/22 Other Business

Electronic Business – Audit & Risk Management Committee

11.1 Members of the Audit & Risk Management Committee were alerted to an upcoming item of electronic business.

12/22 Review of Meeting

12.1 The Board reviewed its meeting with reference to the agreed Board Principles and CCW’s values. The Board was pleased that the meeting had run to time and with the quality of the papers presented. Some adjustments to the order of business were suggested which would be considered as in setting future agenda.

13/21 Next meeting

13.1 The next Board meeting would be at 11.00 on Tuesday 26 July 2022.

Meeting closed at 14:30

Minutes of the meeting held at 11:00 on 8 March 2022 at the CCW offices, 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham.

Present:-

CCW Board:

• Alison Austin
• Emma Clancy
• Bev Keogh (by videoconference)
• Rob Light (Chair)
• Rachel Onikosi
• Lisa Tennant
• Rhodri Williams
• Rob Wilson

CCW staff:

• Hannah Bradley, Head of Evidence & Insights (for items 84 and 85/21 only)
• Nicola Brown Director of Consumer Relations
• Amanda Caton, Executive Head of Communications
• Gemma Domican, Organisational Change Lead
• [redacted: personal data], PA to Chief Executive & Chair (by videoconference)
• Mike Keil, Director of Policy, Research and Campaigning
• Alison Townsend, Board Secretary (by videoconference)

74/21 Welcome, introduction and apologies

74.1 The Chair welcomed members to the meeting. There were no apologies for absence.

74.2 The Chair noted that Paul Hibbert would be leaving CCW shortly and passed on the Board’s best wishes for the future.

74.3 The Chair briefly reflected on the period since the last meeting and noted that a meeting of Water Industry Chairs was scheduled for 22 June 2022. The proposal for the forum had been well received, and it was hoped it could be used for ongoing Chair to Chair dialogue within the sector. The recent Board development sessions that had been an opportunity to focus on how the Board worked together as a modern board to effectively support CCW. The principles that had been agreed in that session and captured how the Board agreed to operate had been worked up into a visual that was displayed in the meeting room.

75/21 Declarations of Interest

75.1 Rob Wilson reported that he had that he had recently acquired shares in Green Hydrogen and would take up the position of Social Mobility Commissioner from May 2022. His entry in the register of interests would be updated to reflect this.

75.2 There were no declarations of interest relevant to the matters before the Board.

76/21 Minutes, matters arising and outstanding actions & Committee minutes

Board Minutes

76.1 The Board agreed the minutes of its meeting held on 3 February 2022 as a true record. There were no matters arising.

Outstanding Actions

76.2 The Board considered a paper that updated it on progress with actions from past meetings. One action was ongoing, there were no actions marked to be discharged and there had been no items of electronic business since the last meeting.

Committee for England

76.3 The Chair gave a brief overview of the meeting of the Committee for England held on 18 February 2022. The meeting had looked at issues associated with water affordability, the implementation of the recommendations of the 2021 Affordability Review and the impact of the cost of living crisis. The Board noted that the discussion had been hampered by the fact that the meeting had taken place during a period of severe storms but nevertheless the Committee had been joined by around 35 stakeholders which demonstrated positive engagement with the format of the new Committee meetings. The Board suggested ways to stimulate discussion in the meetings which would be taken into account in planning future meetings.

76.4 The minutes of the meeting would be presented to the Board at its next meeting.

77/21 CEO Commentary

77.1 The Board considered and noted a paper by the Chief Executive that updated the Board on current operational matters at CCW and changes to the Consumer Relations team. The Chief Executive drew the Board’s attention to a number of key issues:-

• a meeting had taken place with water industry regulators aimed at promoting greater collaboration across the sector; and
• the Board paper template had been updated to clearly show which board role(s) and campaign/work area the paper supported.

77.2 The Board welcomed the move to CCW driving collaboration and change across the sector.

Consumer Relations Review – Improving the Customer Complaints Journey

77.3 The Board received an update from Nicola Brown on the work that she had completed since joining CCW in October 2021 to review the Consumer Relations function. A three stage plan had been developed to improve the Customer Complaints Journey and move satisfaction levels from the current 48% to 80% by 2023 and was considered by the Board.

77.4 The Board heard about the work that had taken place to date including work to stabilise the team, reduce the backlog in cases and improve morale (stage one). While phase one was not yet fully complete the improvements already made had enabled some work to start on stage two (simplification).

77.5 The Board discussed the proposals and particularly asked:-

• how the customer perspective had influenced the proposals. The Board was advised that the changes would be piloted and satisfaction levels/
  feedback monitored closely during that period; a number of suggestions were made on ways to obtain feedback that would be taken into account as the pilot developed;
• how staff were being rewarded/incentivised in the transformation phases. The Board was advised that opportunities for reward were constrained by civil service rules and processes although an ‘Above and Beyond’ award scheme was in place. The Countdown to Christmas campaign that was part of the stage one work had recognised ‘Star Performers’. The Board noted that all staff had been involved in the organisation’s culture change journey and that the CR team were passionate about doing the right thing for customers, the importance of giving them the opportunities to develop was emphasised;
• where responsibility for digital improvements was in the structure proposed. The Board was advised that the Improvement Manager Role would have this responsibility; and
• timescales for influencing PR24/responsibility for CMEX. . The Board noted that consideration was being given to how CCW could leverage PR24 as a vehicle for change generally including the potential for CCW to take responsibility for CMEX.

77.6 The Board welcomed the comprehensive proposals and agreed that the proposed operating model would address the problems previously identified. The Board asked for an update on the pilot at its next meeting.

Action: N Brown

78/21 Business Case: Recruitment Partner

78.1 The Board considered a paper that presented a business case for a Human Resources Recruitment Partner for a period up to four years (two years plus an option to extend for a further two years). The matter had been brought to the Board because the approval of business cases for work valued over £100k that commit CCW to multi-year or novel/contentions spend was a matter reserved to the Board. The Board noted that a call off contract was proposed and costs would only be incurred when the contract was used.

78.2 The Board discussed issued associated with the proposal including

• how the use of a recruitment partner would enable CCW to attract diverse candidates to roles and how CCW would assess the techniques they used to achieve this. The Board was advised that this would be assessed as part of the procurement process; and
• recognising that any recruitment partner would need to deliver CCW’s vision, mission and values, how CCW would check that the partner’s values aligned with its own. The Board was advised that the tender assessment process would include interviews where this could be tested.

78.3 The Board recognised that recruitment was becoming more difficult and that the proposal would give the organisation flexibility in recruitment.

The Board agreed that CCW should procure a call-off contract for Human Resources Recruitment Partner services with a specialist recruitment agency for a period of two years with the option to extend for a further two years.

79/21 Review of the CCW Board register of interests

79.1 The Board considered a paper that presented a summary of its register of interests that would be published alongside the 2021/22 Annual Report and Accounts. The summary was the outcome of the annual review of the register and the Chair emphasised the importance of keeping the register updated with changes that occur during the year.

The Board approved the summary Register of Board Member interests for the 2021/22 reporting period.

80/21 Review of Committee Membership

80.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the outcome of a review of the membership of the HR & Remuneration Committee and the Human Resources Committee. The Chair explained that the Board had fewer member than in the past and so he had taken the opportunity to reflect on the size and composition of the Committees. In summary it was proposed that the membership of each Committee be reduced to four Board members and the quorum of be adjusted to two Committee members.

The Board agreed to:-

1. remove Alison Austin from the HR & Remuneration Committee;
2. remove Lisa Tennant from the Audit & Rusk Management Committee and appoint her to the HR & Remuneration Committee;
3. appoint Rachel Onikosi to the Audit & Risk Management Committee; and
4. adjust the quorum for the HR & Remuneration Committee and the Audit & Risk Management Committee to two Committee members and update the Terms of Reference for each Committee to reflect this.

81/21 Finance Report to January 2022

81.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that provides an update on CCW’s financial position to end January 2022. The Board noted that the latest forecast year end outturn was c12k underspend.

Dilapidations – Victoria Square House

81.2 Further to minute 68.1/21 the Board was updated on the process to agree a figure for dilapidations for CCW’s former offices at Victoria Square House with Defra. The Board heard that CCW had made a provision of £99k for dilapidations and had been seeking confirmation of the final figure for several months. In February Defra had indicated the charge would be £145k plus VAT which CCW had challenged on a number of points. Defra had subsequently agreed that VAT would not be payable on the charge and that Government Property Agency would be asked to cover part of the charge for the area of the office they occupied. The outcome of this was an agreed charge of approximately £137k; CCW’s financial provision would be increased to this amount. The Board recognised the work of the CCW team to reach this position and noted that the Chairs of the Board and the Audit and Risk Management Committee had been kept updated on this matter during the negotiations. The Board asked if consideration had been given to engaging consultancy support on this matter and noted that the value for money that could have been gained from this was marginal given CCW had already made a £99k provision for the charge.

81.2 [redacted: publication would be prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs]

82/21 2022/23 Strategic Planning

(i) Forward Work Programme 2022/23

82.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the outcome of the public consultation on CCW’s 2022/23 Forward Work Programme (FWP) (previous minute 56.1/21 also refers). The Board was advised that the FWP had been co-created with the Board and stakeholders and was supported by the Defra sponsorship team. A range of organisations including Citizens Advice, Waterwise, Natural England, Ofwat and water companies had responded positively to the consultation on the plan.

82.2 The Board was advised that the document was not yet in its final draft and some further minor changes were needed and so the Board was asked to delegate final sign off of the FWP to the Chair in consultation with the Chief Executive.

82.3 The Board welcomed the new format for the FWP and welcomed the more accessible format. The Board noted that the responses to the consultation had been positive and there was a suggestion that healthy scepticism should be used to check if there was anything behind this. The Board heard that there had been challenge to aspects of the FWP in discussion but this had not come through into the consultation responses; there was a recognition that there would be areas where CCW didn’t agree with stakeholders and that this was healthy.

82.4 The Board asked if ‘end water poverty’ was the most appropriate title for this campaign and noted that this had been discussed with Defra and it had been agreed that ending water poverty should be the aim of the consumer body. The Board noted that consideration was used to the language CCW used generally and it would be adjusted to suit the audience and the method of communication. The Board recognised that the FWP was stretching with a relatively modest budget increase proposed (minute 82.5 below refers).

The Board approved the Forward Work Programme for 2022/23 and delegated approval of the final document to the Chair and Chief Executive. The final draft to be published on 31 March 2022.

(ii) Budget 2022/23

82.5 Further to minute 56(ii)/21 the Board considered a paper that presented the proposed budget for CCW for 2022/23. The draft budget was £7.08m which was an increase from £6m in 2021/22; the budget figure had been included in the consultation on the 2022/23 FWP. The principles supporting the proposal to increase the figure had been considered by the Board at its meeting in September 2021 (minute 43/21 refers). The Board noted that no objections to the proposed budget increase had been received in the consultation.

The Board approved the budget for 2022/23 budget of £7.08m funded by a levy of £7.06m.

(iii) CCW Communications Strategy 2022/23

82.6 The Board considered a paper that presented the 2022/23 Communications strategy that had been designed to support the delivery of the Forward Work Programme 2022/23 (minute 82.1 above also refers). The Board noted that the plan was intended to be agile and change during the course of the year.

82.7 The Board discussed the aspects of the strategy particularly:

• what the non staff costs indicated in the paper covered. The Board noted that the £20k indicated for digital services covered website hosting and in year adjustments to the website. The remaining funds would cover all other expenditure during the year eg design, media monitoring, political monitoring;
• If consideration had been given to how to increase engagement with hard to reach groups. There was a recognition that this was a challenge and the Board heard that several pilots were planned for including engagement with community groups and MPs in relation to Priority Services Registers. There were also plans to use demographic tools to understand different audiences and their preferences in order to help targeting communications activities. .

The Board approved the 2022/23 Communications Strategy.

83/21 Strategic Risk Register – high level risks

83.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that presented the high level risks on the strategic risk register. The Board was advised that a ‘blank page review’ of the Risk Register had been completed in 2021 that had included the reformatting of the register to create a more focussed and useable document. The Board noted that the Audit and Risk Management Committee reviewed the full register at each of its meetings.

83.2 The Board reviewed the risks presented and noted that the highest risk was that the demand for support from Consumer Relations exceeded supply. The Board also recognised there was a correlation between papers on its agenda and the risks presented which demonstrated the Board’s attention was focussed on the right areas.

84/21 Policy & Research update

84.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that presented an update on current Policy and Research activities/issues. The Board was advised that work on PR24 was gaining pace including joint research with Ofwat. The Board heard about changes to the structure of the Policy and Research Team. The Board noted that the restructure of the team completed the work arising from the Board restructure and changes to arrangements for regional working when an interim structure was put in place to give time to review and assess the best way to organise the team.

84.2 The Board asked about the membership and role of the Challenge Co-Ordination Group (COG) and was noted that this was a forum for Chairs of Customer Challenge Groups. The Board noted that CCW’s former Regional Chairs previously sat on CCGs but this arrangement had ended when the Board and the arrangements for regional working were restructured.

85/21 Proposed Customer Research and Consultant Programme 2022-23

85.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the 2022/23 Customer Research and Consultancy programme. The Board was advised that the plan had been designed to support the delivery of the Forward Work Programme (minute 82/21 above also refers) and that the budget for this work had been increased by around £150,000 compared to the previous year. The Board received a brief overview of the plan.

85.2 The Board discussed aspects of the plan and its delivery:-

• how CCW engaged with transient or vulnerable customers in its research. The Board heard that CCW was challenging itself to do better in this area and was keen to understand what other organisations were doing to reaching these customers;
• how the Board could use the research findings to influence its considerations and consideration would be given to how the findings were presented back to the Board.

The Board approved the 2022/23 Customer Research and Consultancy programme.

86/21 Revision to CCW Complaints formal review process

86.1 The Board considered a paper that presented proposals for change to the process for the Formal Review of customer complaints. The Board heard that the change supported the work to improve the customer journey and would reduce the time for customers going through a formal review from around 10 weeks to around 20 days. The Formal Review was an administrative review currently completed by a panel of two Board members to look at the handling of the complaint and would only consider the outcome of the case if a CCW handling failure has impacted the outcome.

86.2 The recommended process was briefly outlined to the Board and comprised a Manager review that would take up to 10 working days followed by a review by the Director of Consumer Relations or the Chief Executive if the customer remained unhappy with the handling of the case. A Board member review would take place with the Consumer Relations management team to discuss reviews that have taken place and would also be an opportunity for the Board member to review a selection of closed cases. The review would be with one Board member on a rotational basis.

86.3 The Board discussed the proposal and particularly:-

• why an Independent Assessor model had been ruled out. The Board was reminded that there was an ambition for CCW to take over the ADR process and that it may be appropriate to introduce an Independent Assessor at that point;
• the frequency of the Board member review meetings. There was some concern that Board Members would have less exposure to consumers and real cases with the new model; the Board agreed that initially these should take place quarterly;
• how the Board could keep in touch with customer views, it was suggested that the Board could join focus groups to hear directly from consumers;

86.4 The Board was advised that the new process would be launched in early summer 2022.

The Board agreed that

1. the Formal Review process be changed to an Executive Review with Board Assurance (option 2 in the paper presented); and
2. Board member review meetings be held on a quarterly basis.

87/21 Any Other Business

87.1 There were no items of other business.

88/21 Review of Meeting

88.1 The Board reviewed its meeting with reference to the agreed Board Principles and CCW’s values. The Board considered the format of the papers presented and recognised the need to balance the need to present the Board with the key information and issues in a way that wasn’t burdensome to the Executive Team. It was agreed that the format of the item should be determined on a case by case basis to suit the matter being discussed.

88.2 Generally the Board agreed the meeting had gone well and had found the Chair’s extended introduction helpful.

89/21 Next meeting

89.1 The next Board meeting would be at 11.00 on Tuesday 24 May 2022. The Chair explained that the next meeting would start the regular two monthly cycle of meetings that the Board had been transitioning into.

Meeting closed at 14:50

Minutes of the meeting held at 13:30 on 3 February 2022. Meeting held by videoconference.

Present:-

CCW Board:

• Alison Austin
• Emma Clancy
• Rob Light (Chair)
• Rachel Onikosi
• Lisa Tennant
• Rhodri Williams
  Rob Wilson

CCW staff:

• Nicola Brown Director of Consumer Relations
• [redacted: personal information], Policy Manager (for item 70/21 only)
• Amanda Caton, Executive Head of Communications
• Karen Gibbs, Senior Policy Manager (for item 71/21 only)
• Steve Hobbs, Senior Policy Manager (for item 71/21 only)
• Mike Keil, Director of Policy, Research and Campaigning
• Lia Moutselou, Senior Policy Manager (for item 71/21 only)
• Jenny Suggate, Senior Policy Manager (for item 71/21 only)
• Alison Townsend, Board Secretary
• Andy White, Senior Policy Manager (for items 70 and 71/21 only)

63/21 Welcome, introduction and apologies

Welcome/apologies

63.1 The Chair welcomed members to the meeting. Apologies for absence had been received from Bev Keogh.

64/21 Declarations of Interest

64.1 There were no declarations of interest relevant to the matters before the Board.

65/21 Minutes, matters arising and outstanding actions

Board Minutes

65.1 The Board agreed the minutes of its meeting held on 7 December 2021 as a true record. There were no matters arising.

Outstanding Actions

65.2 The Board considered a paper that updated it on progress with actions from past meetings; two actions were marked to be discharged.

The Board agreed to discharge the action from previous minutes reference 58.2/21 and 61.1/21.

Audit & Risk Management Committee

65.3 The Board received the minutes of the meeting of Audit & Risk Management Committee held on 14 December 2021. The Chair gave a brief overview of the matters considered at the meeting that had included:-

• review of progress on the 2021/22 internal audit plan which was on track;
• consideration of the 2021/22 audit planning report for the year-end financial audit; and
• review of the risk register.

66/21 CEO Commentary

66.1 The Board received and noted a presentation by the CEO that updated the Board on current operational matters at CCW. The Chief Executive drew the Board’s attention to a number of key issues:-

• work was underway to review the Framework Agreement with Defra; CCW had provided comments to Defra and it’s response was awaited;
• the Executive Team has begun detailed planning for 2022-23 including the creation of a calendar of activity that would bring together key aspects of CCW’s work;
• a letter from the Chair had been sent to Ofwat setting out CCW’s concerns about the NHH market;
• work continued on the Single Social Tariff;
• the draft Forward Work Programme, considered by the Board in December 2021, was currently out for public consultation;
• the Consumer Relations Countdown to Christmas campaign had been a success with Customers waiting for an enquiry response or resolution to their complaint reduced by 55% and £250k secured for customers during the campaign;
• the Board received an overview of the work to improve the consumer complaint journey and noted that a steering group had been established to oversee the move to CCW procuring and managing the WATRS contract; and
• the results of the recent employee engagement survey had shown an increase in the number of employees that were ‘fully engaged’ with CCW’s 72% score above the civil service median of 66%

66.2 The Board discussed the following issues associated with the update:-

• the Board was pleased to see the positive results from the staff survey and enquired if the introduction of more flexible ways of working contributed to this and, if so, if CCW would be able to continue this approach. The Board was advised that a blended working policy had already been implemented at CCW and that this was a permanent change. There had recently been evidence that lack of contact with colleagues was becoming an issue but nevertheless the flexible blended working arrangements would remain; and
• the Board noted there were comments in the survey around workload and asked if there was any relationship between high workloads, increased sickness and performance issues. The Board was advised that while there was no evidence of concerning trends but there was work to do in this area. The Board heard that additional people and tools would be introduced in 2022/23 to provide more support to the Consumer Relation team.

66.3 The Board heard that work was underway to review the Formal Review of Complaints process that Board members were involved in. The Board was advised that there was a backlog of cases at this stage and members were asked to help facilitate their speedy completion

67/21 Appointments to Board Committees

67.1 The Board considered a paper that recommended changes to the appointments to Board Committees. The Chair explained that he wished to carry out a more thorough review of the membership of the Audit & Risk Management and Human Resources & Remuneration Committees which would be the subject of a further paper to the Board. The Chair asked the Board to disregard the recommendation for change to the membership of the Audit & Risk Committee and only take a decision on the change to the membership of the Committee for Wales.

The Board agreed that Lisa Tennant should be appointed to the Committee for Wales. This appointment to take immediate effect and to be for the duration of the Board member’s appointment to the Board, or until any adjustment to the appointment is agreed by the Board, whichever is sooner.

68/21 Finance Report

68.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on CCW’s financial position to end December 2021. The Board was advised that the dilapidations report for the former offices at Victoria Square house was awaited. An agreement had been reached with the Defra sponsorship team for CCW to make a financial provision for dilapidations if clarification on the charge was not received by the end of the financial year.

68.2 The Board was briefly updated on CCW’s process to clawback underspend from budgets to a central pot to be reallocated to the items identified as ‘opportunities’ in the schedule at Annex 3 to the paper. The outcome of that reallocation was a forecast of approximately £29k underspend at year end.

69/21 Policy and Research Update

69.1 The Board noted a short oral update on key issues for the policy and research area since its last meeting that included:-

• work on PR24 was gaining pace and had recently included:-
  • work to engage with a series of discussion papers published by Ofwat;
  • CCW’s proposal for a ‘central coordination group’ (COG) that could help empower local challenge groups was gaining traction. The Board was updated on how the COG might work;
  • joint research with Ofwat was well underway and the Board was updated on the workstreams;
  • CCW’s PR24 Steering Group had met earlier that week with Rob Light and Rhodri Williams representing the Board on the group;
• work to introducing a central system for CCW’s data to enable easy access and analysis (the Data Strategy Project) was underway. Lisa Tennant represented the Board on the project’s Steering Group. The Board heard that work was generally going well although problems had been experienced with the work to reformat CCW’s existing data into a form that would enable it to be ingested into the new data warehouse. The Board was advised it was possible the project could overrun by two weeks;
• Ofwat was currently consulting on changes to its Customer Protection Code of Practice which included aspects of the ‘credit where it’s due campaign’ that was due to be introduced in the 2022/23 Forward Work Programme. This was considered an early win for CCW;
• the new MOSL strategic panel was in place and operating. CCW was represented on the panel by its Director of Policy, Research and Campaigning;
• as previously reported to the Board, the joint investigation by the EA and Ofwat into environmental compliance by water companies had been launched late last year. CCW had followed up on the announcement with letters from its Chair to both Ofwat’s and EA’s Chairs asking for greater transparency on this investigation and offering help to rebuild trust with customers;
• research by CCW on customers views about storm overflows was nearing completion. This repeated research carried out by the Storm Overflow task force in May 2021 as there had been a lot of change in this area since that work was completed; and
• Defra had published a Strategic Policy Statement earlier that week which provided guidance to Ofwat on its priorities including in relation to PR24.

70/21 Household Charges Schemes 2022/23 final position

70.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that presented companies’ charges for 2022/23 which would be announced by Water UK on 4 February 2022. The Board was advised that the average increase was 1.7% although there was a significant variations between companies. The Board noted that the 1.7% calculation included an assumption that household consumption would decrease as residents returned to work away from the home as restrictions around the Covid-19 pandemic relaxed further.

70.2 The Board was advised that the additional revenue that had been awarded to those companies that had appealed their PR19 determinations to the CMA would be recovered over the following three years of the price review period which would further impact those customers. The Board also noted that ODI rewards and penalties and green recovery revenue allowances could also impact some customers.

70.3 The Board discussed issues associated with the increase on charges including:-

• If CCW had seen contact/complaints about bill increases in previous years. The Board was advised that bill increases usually drove an increase in contact to the Consumer Relations Team and heard about the work to develop messaging for customers about water efficiency and the support available; and
• If there were any customer sectors that could be particularly badly affected by an increase in charges. The Board heard that unmetered customers were likely to see increases above 1.7%.

71/21 Company Accountability – deep dive

71.1 The Board received a presentation that looked at those issues that were at all three levels on CCW’s escalation framework and how this had changed since the last update of this type in July 2021.

71.2 The Board particularly noted:-

• Bristol Water (BRL). Good progress was being made by BRL to improve on its 2020/21 complaints performance. The Board noted that if the improvements were sustained this issue would be de-escalated. There was a concern that BRL was delaying its price review research because if its proposed merger. CCW would be meeting with them to follow up on this matter;
• South East Water (SEW). A small number of SEW customers in in Chilham, Kent had been experiencing supply interruptions/low pressure because of power issues at the local treatment works. Work was underway to install a generator at the works and once this was complete and commissioned the issue would be de-escalated;
• Southern Water (SRN). SRN continued to receive high numbers of complaints driven partly by negative media coverage of wastewater performance. There were also concerns around the company’s ability to provide water resources over the long-term in parts of Hampshire. The company was required to find alternative sources by 2027 in order to reduce abstraction from the rivers Test and Itchen, but was taking longer than planned to develop a preferred solution;
• Thames Water (TMS). Improvements had been seen in the number of complaints to CCW about TMS, however, TMS remained the worst performer in relation to complaints and continued to have a high level of open complaints which was a concern as the annual billing cycle approached. In addition, there had been extensive flooding in West and North East London following storms in July. TMS has set up an independent review of the events and how its sewerage assets had performed; a stakeholder group had also been created on which CCW had a place;
• Yorkshire Water (YKY). Good improvement had been made by YKY in relation to operational complaint numbers and this issue, that had been at level one, had been de-escalated in November;
• Northumbrian Water (NW). An increase in call wait times had been seen at NW. An action plan had been agreed with NW although initial targets had not been met, however, complaints were now reducing and as a result of improved call handling and wait times and if the progress was maintained the issue would be de-escalated;
• Hafren Dyfrdwy (HDD). Issues with supply resilience had been at level 2 in July 2021 and had been de-escalated to level 1 and progress was being monitored. The issues associated with changes to the HDD social tariff to better target those in need that had been at level 1 had been de-escalated;
• Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water (DCWW). Issues with water resilience linked to water supply interruptions had been de-escalated to level 0 in August 2021 because of continued improvement through Quarter 1 in 2021/22. However, there had a deterioration in performance in Quarter 2 and so this matter would be the subject of further scrutiny for the remainder of the year.
• South Staffs & Cambridge Water (SSC). Issues with Debt Management at SSC remained at level 1; an action plan and timeline were due to be agreed with the company in February 2022;
• Essex & Suffolk (ES). There had been concerns about the level of written and telephone complaints at ES, improvements had been seen and the situation was being monitored;
• Castle Water (CW). While there had been evidence that complaints performance was improving CW remained at level three on this issue. Advance billing had previously been the cause of many complaints and CW was now more actively offering customers alternative billing options and that issue has been de-escalated to level 1 and was being monitored;
• Water Plus (WP). WP remained at level three because of its complaints performance which was currently the worst complaints performance in the market; and
• SES Business Water (SESBW). The complaints issues that had been at level 1 had been de-escalated.

72/21 Other Business

72.1 There were no items of other business.

73/21 Next Meeting

73.1 The next Board meeting would be at 11:00 on Tuesday 8 March 2022.

Meeting closed at 16:00

Minutes of the meeting held at 11:00 on 7 December 2021. Meeting held in person and by videoconference.

Present:-

CCW Board:

• Alison Austin
• Emma Clancy
• Bev Keogh
• Rob Light (Chair)
• Rachel Onikosi
• Lisa Tennant (by videoconference)
• Rhodri Williams (by videoconference)
• Rob Wilson

CCW staff:

• Nicola Brown Director of Consumer Relations
• [redacted: personal information], Policy Manager (for item 58/21 only)
• Amanda Caton, Executive Head of Communications
• [redacted: personal information], Research and Insight Manager (for item 60/21 only)
• Gemma Domican, Organisational Change Lead
• Paul Hibbert, Executive Head of Business Services
• Mike Keil, Director of Policy, Research and Campaigning
• Alison Townsend, Board Secretary

49/21 Welcome, introduction and apologies

Welcome/apologies

49.1 The Chair welcomed members to the meeting and was pleased most Board members had been able to join the meeting in person. Apologies for absence had been received from Bev Keogh.

49.2 The Chair welcomed Gemma Domican who was observing the Board meeting and explained that the Board was open to employees joining its meeting to observe.

49.3 The Chair reported that Jeff Halliwell had resigned from the Board with effect from 10 November 2021.

49.4 The Chair reported that since the last meeting he and the CEO had met with Minister Pow and had also attended a Defra event the previous day at which he had discussed the single social tariff with the Secretary of State.

50/21 Declarations of Interest

50.1 Rob Wilson reported that he had recently acquired shares in a public affairs company; his register of interests would be updated to reflect this.

50.2 There were no declarations of interest relevant to the matters before the Board.

51/21 Minutes, matters arising and outstanding actions

Board Minutes

51.1 The Board agreed the minutes of its meeting held on 21 September 2021 as a true record. There were no matters arising.

Outstanding Actions

51.2 The Board considered a paper that updated it on progress with actions from past meetings; two actions were marked to be discharged.

The Board agreed to discharge the action from previous minutes reference 39.9/21 and 44.3/21.

Audit & Risk Management Committee

51.3 The Board received the minutes of the meeting of Audit & Risk Management Committee held on 29 September 2021. The Chair gave a brief overview of the matters considered at the meeting that had included:-

• arrangements for external audit. NAO had brought the CCW audit back in house; this work had recently been completed by EY on behalf of NAO. The Board noted that the NAO fee for the 2021/22 audit would be £28.5k which had been negotiated down from the £34k proposed by NAO. The Board noted that these charges would increase in future years;
• the work completed by the Executive team on a ‘blank page’ review of the risk register; and
• work completed to reformat CCW’s fraud risk register.

Committee for England

51.4 The Board received the minutes of the meeting of the Committee for England held on 1 October 2021. The Chair of the Committee gave an update on the meeting that had included a number of speakers on the subject of engagement with hard to reach groups and best practice in this area. The Board noted that the importance of human interaction had been a theme throughout the subsequent discussions.

51.5 The Board asked how CCW could act as a portal to share this type of information and was updated on work to develop a best practice hub. The Board emphasised the importance of identifying discussion topics that the public could engage with.

Committee for Wales

51.6 The Board received the minutes of the meeting of the Committee for Wales held on 7 October 2021. The Chair of the Committee gave an update on the meeting that had also discussed engagement with hard to reach groups. The Board noted that two of the speakers at the meeting were based in Wales which had added depth to the discussion. The Board also noted that simultaneous Welsh to English translation had been provided that had worked very well.

52/21 CEO Commentary

52.1 The Board considered and noted a paper by the Chief Executive that updated the Board on current operational matters at CCW. The Chief Executive drew the Board’s attention to a number of key issues:-

• CCW’s Senior Leadership Team had recently participated in a leadership development programme across a range of topics;
• media activity in the year to end October 2021 had increased by nearly three times compared to the whole of 2020-/21 with 1,200 references to CCW in the media to date; and
• CCW’s draft strategy had been presented to Water Company CEOs the previous week; the presentation had been accompanied by a video which was shown to the Board.

52.2 The Board discussed the following issues associated with the update:-

• the views of Water Company CEOs about the Affordability Review and the work arising from that. The Board noted that CEOs were generally supportive and only Severn Trent had indicated it had alternative proposals. The CEO emphasised that the review’s recommendations were a big policy shift for the sector, while progress was being made it would not always be straightforward and would need constant work by CCW to keep on track;
• if the user journey from the CCW’s recently created Instagram ‘Link Tree’ could be tracked; this was possible;
• the Board welcomed the Countdown to Christmas campaign taking place in CR to bring down the number of unresolved cases and asked about the cases that remained outstanding at Christmas and if these were likely to be the more difficult cases. The Board heard that the campaign had been intended to bring the team together to tackle those complaints; while this would inevitably include quick wins the team was also addressing more long term complaints and that the initiative would generate capacity to look at the more complex cases;
• if there had been a response on the request for clarification if the lifting of the pay pause would apply to CCW. The Board noted that no response had been received to date. The Board was concerned about the potential impact on recruitment if the pay pause continued and asked how CCW’s pay scales compared to other organisations. The Board heard that CCW’s pay scales were lower than other Government bodies as well as the private sector. There was a recognition that the market for staff was buoyant with skills shortages in some sectors; the need to coach and support existing staff and to consider the challenges creatively was acknowledged; and
• if CCW possessed the appropriate skill sets/data specialists to manage the systems to be implemented by the data strategy project. The Board noted that a Data and Insights team had been created and was being brought up to speed; this question would need to be asked of the team.

53/21 Redacted: publication would be prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs

54/21 Finance Report

54.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on CCW’s financial position to end October 2021. The Board noted that current forecast year end outturn was a £55k underspend. The ‘risks and opportunities’ section in the paper considered how that underspend could be utilised.

54.2 The Board noted that it was hoped that the dilapidation costs for the former offices at Victoria Square House would be agreed shortly. The Board enquired how this matter would be dealt with if the costs were not agreed by the end of the financial year and noted that the current provision would be carried forward to 2022/23.

55/21 Board Forward Look

55.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the updated Board Forward Look to end March 2023. The Board was advised that the Forward Look was a live document that flexed to respond to the business need and presented the work for the Board at that point in time.

The Board approved the Board Forward Look to March 2023.

56/21 Draft 2022-25 Strategy – consultation

(i) CCW Draft Forward Work Programme 2022/23

56.1 The Board considered a paper that presented CCW’s draft Forward Work Programme for 2022/23 (FWP) and its long term strategy. The Board was advised that the draft FWP was ambitious and a co-creation approach had been taken to its development that had included Board members. The Board noted that the draft FWP should be considered in conjunction with the 2022/23 budget proposals (minutes 56.3 to 56.5/21 below refer). The consultation on both items was scheduled to launch on 4 January 2022.

56.2 The FWP was underpinned by four long term objectives and the Board was updated on the campaigns planned for 2022/23. The Board went on to discuss issues associated with the planned campaigns and noted that a detailed plan would be developed to support each campaign against which performance could be measured.

The Board approved CCW’s draft 2022/23 Forward Work Programme and strategy for public consultation in January 2022.

(ii) Initial 2022/23 Budget proposals

56.3 The Board considered a paper that presented the 2022-23 licence fee and budget to the Board. The Board was advised that CCW had historically demonstrated value for money by keeping costs down rather than by delivering more for customers. The proposed 2022/23 FWP (minutes 56.1 & 56.2/21 above refer) was ambitious and could not be delivered within the existing resource and after full consideration by CCW’s Executive team a budget of £7.08m for 2022/23 was proposed. The proposed budget was an increase of £925k from 2021/22. The paper set out how the funding would be utilised and the Board noted that the plans would add 4p to customer bills in 2022/23 with £625k of the proposed new spend being for recurring items.

56.4 The Board went on to discuss issues associated with the proposals including:-

• if the proposals included improved support for business customers. The Board heard about plans to strengthen this area of CCW’s work including dedicated business customer support in the CR team and proposals to increase the size of the non-household policy team by reallocating existing resources;
• if the proposals had been discussed with Defra; the Board was briefly updated on discussions with Defra and Welsh Government on the plans;
• if the plans were sufficiently ambitious. The Board was reminded that CCW was a small organisation and it was important that the promises made were realistic, deliverable and created a strong position for CCW could move forward from in future years; and
• the Board recognised the amount of work that had been completed to develop the FWP and supporting budget and asked what the budgetary requirement for the following years would look like. The Board noted that more work was needed to develop medium term financial plans and these would be presented to the Board in due course. Action: Exec Team

56.5 The Board welcomed the ambition in the 2022/23 FWP and budget but cautioned that plans should be realistic. The Board noted that some of the initiatives planned were new and innovative, and it would take time for these to be properly investigated and taken forward, but it was expected that this work could be built on in future years.

The Board approved a draft budget for 2022/23 of £7.08m and licence fee of £7.06m for consultation

57/21 Policy and Research Update

57.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on key issues for the policy and research area since its last meeting. The Board was advised that:-

• CCW’s Chair had written to the Ofwat and the EA Chair about their joint investigation into compliance at sewage treatment works. The letters would be published on CCW’s website shortly;
• CCW’s Sink Sense research had been ‘highly commended’ in two categories of the Market Research Society Awards the previous evening;

57.2 The Board noted that the Environment Act passed on 16 November 2021 and amongst other things established the Office for Environmental Protection. The Board welcomed the establishment of the PR24 Central Oversight Groups which had been CCW’s preferred model for local consumer engagement for the price review.

58/21 Household Charges Schemes 2022/23

58.1 The Board received a short presentation that examined the process for CCW’s role in relation to water company charges scheme. The Board noted that while CCW did not have any formal powers there was a requirement for companies to consult it about proposals in a timely and effective manner.

58.2 The Board heard about the different factors that made up the charges including price limits set by Ofwat, inflation (CPIH) and ODI incentives. The 2022/23 schemes were also complicated by the impact of the CMA decision in March 2021 for four companies which meant that those price increases would be phased over three rather than five years.

58.2 Discussions were taking place with companies on the 2022/23 charges schemes. The Board noted that, although the December CPIH figure that was used for the inflation allowance was still awaited, a number of companies had already committed to keeping their increase below 5%. The final proposals for all companies would be presented to the next Board meeting and the Board asked for this to include average cash figures for each company as well as the overall percentage.

Action: M Keil

59/21 Company Accountability

59.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on the issues that had reached the third point on CCW’s escalation framework. The Board was advised that issues reported to the Board had not changed since the last report because the issues that had been escalated to this point in the framework were sizeable and so would take time to address.

59.2 The Board asked if improvements were being seen at Castle Water (CW) and was advised that although the historic issue with Thames Water and data quality that had affected CW had been resolved but the required improvements were still not being seen. The Board asked about the rise in stage two complaints at Thames Water (TW) and Southern Water (SW) and heard that SW appeared to be suffering a backlash since the legal action from the EA; generally SW was more of a concern than TW.

60/21 Research Programme

60.1 The Board congratulated the Research Team for being awarded ‘highly commended’ in two categories of the Market Research Society Awards the previous evening.

(i) 2021-22 Mid-Year Research Update

60.2 The Board considered and noted a paper that presented a mid-year update on the 2021/22 research programme. The Board noted that the flexible research contract was now in place. The Board welcomed the work to date and discussed the following issues:-

• if there were plans to do more behavioural change research. The Board noted that the research programme should relate to CCW’s FWP and campaign objectives and it was difficult to make that link with behavioural change focussed work. The Board noted that while the sink sense research was innovative in approach the findings didn’t expose any unexpected behaviours;
• if the questions in the Water Matters survey were stable. The Board noted that there were a number of core questions but there was scope to make adjustments and the questions were always reviewed before the survey;
• how the complaint fatigue research had been used. The Board noted that the research had tested the hypothesis that customers became tired of the complaint process in the water sector and gave up before they reached the end. The research had found that this wasn’t the case and that there were some customer service improvements that companies could make; the findings had been fed back to companies.

(ii) Value of past research programme

60.3 The Board received and noted a short presentation that updated it on how previous research had been used. The Board welcomed the presentation and the insight it gave to how the research programme shaped and supported CCW’s work.

61/21 Other Business

Board Development Event

61.1 The Chair explained that there had been difficulties with Board member availability on two consecutive days for Board Development event. He suggested that the event be split over two separate days and suggested the date of the next Board meeting (25 January 2022) be used for this. The Board discussed suitable dates for the second date and agreed that this should be on 8 February 2022. An alternative date for the January 2022 Board meeting would be identified outside of the meeting.

Action: A Townsend

62/21 Next Meeting

62.1 Board members would be consulted on a date for the rescheduled January 2022 Board meeting (minute 61.1 above also refers). The Board noted that, because of the short period of time until the next meeting the next meeting would be a shorter meeting. The Board agreed that this meeting would be held virtually and that, for that meeting, routine reports would be oral rather than written.

Meeting closed at 15:00

Minutes of the meeting held at 11:00 on 21 September 2021 by videoconference.

Present:-

CCW Board:

• Alison Austin
• Emma Clancy
• Bev Keogh
• Rob Light (Chair)
• Rachel Onikosi
• Lisa Tennant
• Rhodri Williams
• Rob Wilson

CCW staff:

• Amanda Caton, Executive Head of Communications
• [redacted: personal data], Customer Caseworker (for item 42/21 only)
• Paul Hibbert, Executive Head of Business Services
• Mike Keil, Director of Policy, Research and Campaigning
• Alison Townsend, Board Secretary
• [redacted: personal data], Consumer Relations Manager (for item 42/21 only)

36/21 Welcome, introduction and apologies

Welcome/apologies

36.1 The Chair welcomed members to the meeting. Apologies for absence had been received from Jeff Halliwell.

37/21 Declarations of Interest

37.1 Rob Light declared an interest in item 39/21 (part 2) and 46/21 below as he was a water business customer. The interest was not considered material and he remained in the meeting for the consideration of this item.

38/21 Minutes, matters arising and outstanding actions

Board Minutes

38.1 The Board agreed the minutes of its meeting held on 20 July as a true record. There were no matters arising.

Outstanding Actions

38.2 The Board considered a paper that updated it on progress with actions from past meetings; five actions were marked to be discharged. One decision had been taken under the electronic business procedure since the last meeting:-

(i) agreement that Defra, on behalf of CCW, should sign-off on the MOTO agreement for 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham

The Board agreed to discharge the action from previous minutes reference 6/21, 19/21, 21/21, 27.2/21 and 28.3/21.

Human Resources & Remuneration Committee Minutes

38.3 The Board received the minutes of the meeting of Human Resources & Remuneration Committee held on 8 September. The Chair gave a brief overview of the matters considered at the meeting that had included:-

• update on HR matters including a slight increase in staff turnover;
• update on the cultural change programme; and
• the appointment to the new Director of Consumer Relations position.

38.4 The Board enquired when the report of the next staff survey report would be available. The Board was advised that the survey would be launched in November and the report was expected in the New Year.

39/21 CEO Commentary

(1) General Business Update

39.1 The Board considered and noted a paper by the Chief Executive that updated the Board on current operational matters at CCW. The Chief Executive drew the Board’s attention to a number of key issues:-

• Nicola Brown had been recruited to the position of Director of Consumer Relations (CR) and would take up post in early October; the Board was briefly updated on Nicola’s professional background;
• the move into the new offices in Cardiff and Birmingham was now complete. The CEO recognised that this had been achieved during a period of working restrictions associated with Covid-19 and paid tribute to the work of the project team; and
• a dashboard showing the position of each of the four campaigns was annexed to the paper presented.

39.2 The Board discussed the following issues:-

• the Board asked what CCW’s input to the recent BEIS consultation on competition and consumer protection had been. The Board was advised that BEIS had been particularly keen to hear about the triage system being trialled at CCW by the CR team (minute 42/21 below also refers). The Board went on to discuss the challenges experienced in the CR team in August and the subsequent impact on satisfaction levels. The Board heard that problems in August had been primarily linked to sickness and holiday absence and that the situation was improving however there remained a risk to the collective goal of achieving a more positive outcome to the staff survey;
• the Board asked for more detail on the background and experience of the new Director of CR and what they would bring to the organisation. The Board noted that Nicola was a CR professional with relevant experience gained in the energy sector and a track record of delivering change. Nicola was passionate about improving organisational culture and empowering people to deliver an excellent service;
• the Board asked if there were plans to ask companies other than Thames with complaint levels that were impacting the performance of the CR team to fund additional resource. The Board was advised that the matter had been discussed with companies but complaints about other companies were not currently at a level to justify this type of action. The Board noted that the new Director of CR would be developing an improvement plan for CCW.

39.3 [redacted: publication would be prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs]

40/21 Finance Report

40.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on CCW’s financial position to end August 2021. The Board noted that current forecast year end outturn was a £95k underspend but that action was being taken to utilise this. The Board heard that the biggest risk was the dilapidation provision for Victoria Square House; this was currently budgeted at £100k although it was hoped that the actual costs would be lower.

40.2 The Board asked if there would be any savings associated with the move to the new offices. The Board was advised that costs for the new offices were lower than for the previous location but that this had already been recognised in the budget and there were no more savings to be realised in this area.

41/21 Risk Appetite – annual review

41.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the outcome of the annual review of the risk appetite. The Board had carried out a thorough review of the its risk appetite in autumn 2020 and the paper indicated that in the period since the last review there had been no significant change in CCW or the within the water sector and that the risk appetite developed in 2020 remained valid.

41.2 The Board enquired how CCW was living the risk appetite set in 2020 and heard about a number of initiatives taken forward in the last year that would not have been previously considered. The Board also heard that cultural change work underway supported the risk appetite with staff feeling empowered to challenge and put forward new ideas. The Board also recognised the role it had to push the organisation to take more risks.

The Board agreed agree that the risk appetite developed in autumn 2020 remained appropriate.

42/21 Customer Case

42.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that presented a recent customer case that had involved the use of the pilot triage system. The Board received a brief overview of the case and noted that although the outcome had not been what the customer had wanted the service they received had exceeded expectations. The Board was advised that satisfaction levels were higher among customers that had been included in the pilot. The Board noted that the pilot would be rolled out to more companies and a business retailer shortly.

43/21 Pre Budget Report

43.1 The Board considered a paper that sought the Board’s initial views on an increase to the CCW budget from £6m to £7m. The Board heard that CCW’s budget had increased by around £1m since 2011/12; previously the organisation had sought to demonstrate value by minimising costs rather than maximising the outcomes achieved for customers. The Board heard that maximum levy was calculated from the base position of £5.7m in November 2005 with increases limited to the cumulative effect of RPI since that point which equated to a maximum allowable levy of £8.52m.

43.2 The Board discussed the proposals particularly:-

• what the bill impact of a £1m increase would be. The Board was advised that this would be approximately 3.5p per bill;
• what the process was to adjust the levy. The Board noted that this was the Board’s decision that was approved by Defra and Welsh Government (WG) and that CCW was required to consult on the proposed budget. The Board was advised that taking this an in principle decision on this matter at this point would enable CCW to discuss the matter with Defra and WG ahead of the consultation;
• the Board was conscious that a potential underspend had been indicated in the Finance Report (minute 40/21 above refers) and emphasised the need to be certain that an increase was required and the difference that the increased levy would bring. The Board was advised that it was unlikely that the year-end outturn would be a significant underspend and that work was underway to understand what the increased budget could be used for and the benefits for consumers. The Board were reminded that conversely an overspend would be unacceptable. The Board noted that the £1m indicated was the maximum increase being considered at that time and the actual could be slightly lower than that; the paper presented was intended to understand the Board’s appetite for an increase and no decision on the levy was sought at this point.

The Board agreed an in principle increase in the CCW budget of up to £1m in the 2022/23 financial year to inform the budget setting process for the draft budget to be considered by the Board in December 2021.

44/21 Policy and Research Update

44.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on key issues for the policy and research area since its last meeting. The Board was particularly advised that:-

• CCW had responded to a MOSL consultation on a proposal to reduce the meter reading frequency for many business customers. CCW had instigated research to inform its response and found that only 7% of the customers surveyed wanted their meters read less frequently. MOSL subsequently decided not to proceed with the proposal;
• Ofwat had published the findings of two investigations into Thames Water (TW). The first investigation concerned its smart metering programme and the second the quality of customer and market data input into the central market system before the retail market opened. TW made a series of commitments to address the smart metering issues and had refunded £3.4m to business customers affected by the data issues and confirmed that £2m of undercharges caused by the same issues would not be recovered. Ofwat had also ordered TW to pay c£7m to retailers to reflect the harm suffered as a result of the contraventions. Because of these actions the fine for the breaches was a nominal £1; and
• BBC Watchdog was planning a segment on sewer flooding and CCW was discussing its involvement in the piece.

44.2 The Board enquired about the green recovery initiative and if this set a precedent for similar initiatives that could impact customer bills. The Board noted that Defra had carried out a lessons learned exercise that had recognised that the initiative was a response to a particular situation that would not happen every five years.

44.3 The Board referred to reports of untreated sewage being discharged into rivers and asked about CCW’s policy position on the matter. The Board was updated on the role of Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) to reduce the risk of sewage backing up during heavy rainfall and noted that CCW’s position was that CSOs should be used for their intended purpose; however, they were not currently being used as intended in many cases with sewage spills happening more frequently. The Board was advised that CCW was part of the Storm Overflow Task Force group and that the group was working to tackle the worst performing CSOs first. The Board asked if there was information available on the scale of the problems and heard that the task force was working on this and the Task force recommendations would be shared with the Board when it was available.

Action: M Keil

44.4 The Board discussed CCW’s role in this area and noted that the EA and Ofwat had clearly defined roles in this area; CCW had included the environment to the priorities being developed in the strategy review process but there was still a need to define a stronger role for CCW’s.

45/21 Affordability Review – policy implications

45.1 The Board considered a paper that considered CCW’s involvement in the work to deliver the recommendations of the Affordability Review. The Board noted that the review made ten recommendations of which only one was not in line with CCW’s previously agreed and stated positions and so did not represent a shift in policy. The exception was recommendation (vi) that concerned the introduction of a single social tariff (SST). The Board noted that CCW had received a letter from Minister Pow requesting CCW to lead on the delivery of nine of the ten recommendations; Defra and Welsh Government were taking forward the recommendation on the creation of a single social tariff as it would require legislative change.

45.2 The Board discussed issues associated with the potential single social tariff including:-

• If the SST could open wider discussions for example on metering and was advised that it was likely the SST could change the nature of the discussion in a number of areas including around metering;
• The Board noted that water companies currently took different approaches to social tariffs and asked what approach would be adopted with the SST. The Board was advised that the review had indicated there were a number of ways that a SST could be funded and that the Defra and WG led SST working group was working on this matter;
• The Board enquired if there was a risk that the final SST design could be out of line with customer opinion. The Board was advised that research had found that customers were broadly supportive of the SST providing it was value for money. The final decision on this matter was for Defra and CCW’s role was to influence the outcome on behalf of customers bearing in mind the broad range of views.

The Board agreed that CCW should fully engages with and support the Defra/Welsh Government led work to develop a single social tariff for England and Wales.

46/21 Company Accountability

46.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on the issues that had reached the third point on CCW’s escalation framework. The Board was briefly updated on key issues and noted that:-

• Thames Water remained the worst performer for written complaints although there were some signs that these were levelling off;
• Southern Water (SW) complaints performance had declined; the Board noted that it was likely that the recent publicity around the SW fine had impacted this and in addition SW had recently made changes to make it easier for customers to complain; and
• WaterPlus were developing an improvement plan and there were signs of improvement.

46.2 The Board discussed the paper and enquired about references to Northumbrian Water (NW) and Hafren Dyfrdwy (HD) in the paper. The Board noted that NW had been at a crucial point in the implementation of a new billing system when the Covid-19 lockdown had come into force which had caused a number of problems; the issues had not been escalated to the third point on the escalation framework but would be mentioned in the annual complaints report. The increase in complaints at HD could be linked to a couple of supply interruption events; as HD was a small company issues can affect a large proportion of customers and with a subsequent impact on complaint numbers.

47/21 Other Business

47.1 There were no items of other business.

48/21 Next Meeting

48.1 The next Board meeting would be on Tuesday 7 December 2021.

Meeting closed at 14:05

Minutes of the meeting held at 11:00 on 20 July 2021 by videoconference.

Present:-

CCW Board:

• Alison Austin
• Emma Clancy
• Bev Keogh
• Rob Light (Chair)
• Rachel Onikosi
• Rhodri Williams

CCW staff:

• Christina Blackwell, Senior Policy Manager (for item 33/21 only)
• Hannah Bradley, Head of Evidence and Insights (for item 32/21 only)
• [redacted: personal data], Policy Manager (for item 33/21 only)
• Amanda Caton, Executive Head of Communications
• Paul Hibbert, Executive Head of Business Services
• Steve Hobbs, Senior Policy Manager (for item 33/21 only)
• [redacted: personal data], Policy Manager (for item 33/21 only)
• Mike Keil, Director of Policy, Research and Campaigning
• Jenny Suggate, Senior Policy Manager (for item 33/21 only)
• Alison Townsend, Board Secretary
• Andy White, Senior Policy Manager (for item 33/21 only)

23/21 Welcome, introduction and apologies

Welcome/apologies

23.1 The Chair welcomed members to the meeting. Apologies for absence had been received from Jeff Halliwell, Lisa Tennant and Rob Wilson.

23.2 The Chair indicated that work was underway to plan a two day Board Development event and briefly outlined the aim of the session. Board members would be consulted on dates for the event shortly and the Chair asked that members prioritised this in their diaries where possible.

23.3 The Board was advised that a number of induction sessions were planned over two days in October. While the event had primarily been put together for newly appointed board members existing members were welcome to join. Details would be circulated to all Board members when the plans were finalised.

24/21 Declarations of Interest

24.1 Rob Light declared an interest in item 32/21 below as he had been involved with the appointment of a potential supplier to a contract at another organisation. The interest was not considered material and he remained in the meeting for the consideration of this item.

25/21 Minutes, matters arising and outstanding actions

Board Minutes

25.1 The Board agreed the minutes of its meeting held on 8 June as a true record. There were no matters arising.

Human Resources & Remuneration Committee Minutes

25.2 The Board received the minutes of the meeting of Human Resources & Remuneration Committee held on 23 March 2021. The Chair referred to minute 5/21 of the Committee and particularly the Committee’s suggestion that the CEO should be the face of a campaign. This proposal had been considered and it had been concluded that the approach should be for the right person to lead or speak publicly about a campaign; there may be a situation where this was the CEO, but the requirement for the CEO to lead a campaign should not override this consideration.

Audit and Risk Management Committee

25.3 The Board received the minutes of the meetings of the Audit & Risk Management Committee held on 4 May and 18 June 2021. The Chair of the Committee gave a brief update on its work.

Outstanding Actions

25.4 The Board considered a paper that updated it on progress with actions from past meetings; two actions were marked to be discharged. Two decisions had been taken under the electronic business procedure since the last meeting:-

1. appointment of new Consumer Advocates for Northern, Wales, Central & Eastern, London & South East, and the Non Household/ Retail Market role
2. agreement that Defra, on behalf of CCW, should sign-off on the MOTO agreement for Ty William Morgan House, Cardiff

25.5 The Chair advised that the Board would be asked to agree arrangements for the sign off of the MOTO agreement for the new office at 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham by electronic business in August. Board members were asked to watch for correspondence on this matter.

The Board agreed to discharge the action from previous minutes reference 105.2/20 and 11/21.

26/21 Annual Audit and Risk Management Committee report to the Board 2020/21

26.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that presented the annual report of the Audit and Risk Management Committee for the 2020/21 financial year. The Chair of the Committee gave a brief overview of its key activities which had included the procurement of the outsourced internal audit services for which RSM had been successfully reappointed for a further two years with the option to extend for up to a further two years. The Committee Chair indicated that they she was satisfied the Committee was fulfilling the activities required of it.

26.2 The Board asked if non Committee members could observe its proceedings and the Committee Chair confirmed that non-members were welcome to join meetings in this capacity.

27/21 CEO Commentary

27.1 The Board considered and noted a paper by the Chief Executive that updated the Board on current operational matters at CCW. The Chief Executive drew the Board’s attention to a number of key issues:-

• notice had been received of a letter from Minister Pow that would indicate the Minister was expecting CCW to continue to lead the sector to implement the recommendations of the Affordability Review and asks for an annual update on this work.
• the recruitment exercise for the new Director of Consumer Relations position had commenced;
• work continued to develop updated vision, mission and values for the organisation; this would be shared with the Board in due course;
• to work to improve complaint handling in the water sector was showing benefits with the time taken to resolve complaints being reduced by c 6-8 days; and
• an exemplar campaign plan annexed to the paper that demonstrated how these plans and the overall Communications plan were aligned.

27.2 The Board asked about the process to recruit the Director of Consumer Relations and particularly work to attract a range of diverse candidates. The Board was advised that the tender for the recruitment support for the process had been clear about CCW’s ambitions in this area and CCW had also asked for changes to the microsite for the campaign. The Board asked if consideration had been given to the inclusion of an independent panel member from a diverse group on the interview panel and was advised that it was not usual to use an independent panel member for recruitment at this level although thought would be given to the suggestion. Action: E Clancy

27.3 The Board asked if there were any other findings arising from the review of Arm’s Length Bodies referred to in the paper; the Board noted that there had been no more announcements on this to date.

28/21 Finance Report

28.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on CCW’s financial position to end June 2021/quarter 1. The Board was advised that at the end of the period there was a small underspend; the forecast year end outturn was currently £80k and plans to utilise some of this were briefly outlined. The Board noted that items such as travel and subsistence were particularly difficult to plan for as it was still unclear how business would operate as Covid-19 restrictions were lifted. The Board also noted that while an estimate of the dilapidations charge had been drawn up relatively recently the actual charge could be higher than the current estimate; Defra would lead on the negotiation with the landlord on this matter.

28.2 The Board enquired about the reference in the paper to the potential that the signing of a new framework agreement might enable CCW to carry forward underspend into the next financial year, and the timing for the signing of a new agreement. The Board was advised that the timing for this was currently unclear and was assured that CCW aimed to minimise any underspend and so mitigate the risk that funding was lost.

28.3 The Board asked for more detail on finance and budget setting; a separate session would be arranged on this. Action: P Hibbert

29/21 Annual Review of the Code of Governance

29.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the outcome of the annual review of the Code of Governance. Recommended changes were highlighted in the document presented.

The Board approved the updated Code of Governance.

30/21 Board Forward Look

30.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the updated Board Forward look to end March 2023

The Board approved the Board Forward Look.

31/21 Policy and Research Update

31.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on key issues for the policy and research area since its last meeting and also presented CCWs report to the Welsh Language Commissioner on how we are meeting our Welsh language obligations. The Board was advised that-

• CCW’s Sink Sense research had been reported on the ITV evening news and had been nominated for an award;
• Ofwat had taken its final decision on the Green Recovery proposals from Severn Trent, South Staffordshire , Thames, United Utilities and South West Water. The overall bill impact remained as was outlined in the paper; and
• CCW’s response to CCW’s response to Ofwat’s High Level Design for PR24 was being finalised and would be circulated to the Board shortly.

31.2 The Board enquired about the potential risks and challenges for the Policy and Research team over the next year. The Board heard that capacity would be a challenge particularly as work on the price review increased and that this was in the wider context of the challenges presented by the organisational change currently underway.

32/21 Business Case: flexible research contract

32.1 The Board considered a paper that sought the Board’s approval to secure a flexible research capacity via a call off contract to complement the research programme approved by the Board in March 2021 (minute 109/20 refers).

32.2 The three options were outlined to the Board with the preferred solution being a call off contract for qualitative and quantitative research of up to £200k per annum for three years. The Board noted that the contract terms would not require CCW to spend the full amount each year rather CCW could spend as much or as little as it wished up to this amount. The recommended approach would enable research needs to be managed effectively with a flexible budget.

32.3 The Board went on to discuss the proposal particularly:-

• how CCW would check that it obtained value for money from the contract. The Board was advised that the procurement process was an open tender with price paying a large part in the evaluation alongside consideration of the supplier’s track record and the added value that they can bring. The Research Team also held discussions with those requesting research from CCW to understand how the research would be used and would be valuable for CCW. A paper looking at the value of past research was presented to the Board annually;
• why it was proposed to use a single supplier for qualitative and quantitative research. The Board noted that CCW might want to include both types of work in a single piece of research and this approach also avoided potential issues around data sharing;
• why there was little reference to the customer in the paper. The Board was advised that this was because the research topics were not yet known; and
• how this work fitted into the overall research programme; the Board paper on this from March 2021 would be circulated.

The Board approved the procurement of a call off contracts for both qualitative and quantitative research for three years at a value of up to £200k per annum/total value of £600k (option three in the paper).

33/21 Company Accountability – deep dive

33.1 The Board considered received a presentation that looked at those issues that were at levels one and two on CCW’s escalation framework and how this had changed since January 2021. The Board received a brief overview of the escalation framework that had been introduced in June 2020 and how it operated; the framework had been included in the induction pack provided to new Board members.

33.2 The Board particularly noted:-

• Bristol Water had revised its leakage policy that helped customers that were experiencing a leak on their private supply pipe. CCW had a number of issues with the new policy but the matter had recently been deescalated in response to the Defra announcement that they want companies to develop a consistent approach to addressing leakages on private supply pipes;
• Southern Water (SW) was at level three for its complaints performance and level two for water resources. The Board asked if there were signs of improvement and noted that there had been cultural issues at SW and that while a new management team had been introduced it would take time to address all of the problems. The Board was assured that CCW was working closely with SW to understand their plans to improve;
• Thames Water (TW) was at level three due to the volume of complaints which was having a knock on impact on CCW. CCW continued to work with TW at a number of levels and TW was funding additional resources for CCW to manage the peak in complaints it had caused (minute 61/20 refers). The Board discussed the TW issues and noted that the CEO had regular meetings with TW to monitor targets; while there was evidence that TW was working to address issues the volume of new complaints continued to affect performance. The Board asked if TW had the resources to invest in the required improvements and address cultural issues and was advised that TW plans included procuring additional customer service support from Huntswood and was reviewing the balance of work completed in house and off shore. The Board questioned if the outcome would be better if TW invested in its own staff rather than funding resource at CCW and noted that TW continued to invest in its own staff; this balance was an issue that was discussed regularly with TW;
• South Staffs & Cambridge Water (SSC) were at level one because of a previous poor debt assessment. The Board heard that SSC was planning to introduce a new integrated billing and debt management system and CCW was working with it to share experiences and solutions from similar changes at other companies. The Board pointed out that these changes often cause problems with a subsequent rise in complaints and asked what plans SSC had to mitigate this. The Board noted that CCW was working closely with SSC on this and that SSC had a member of staff that had previously been involved with a similar piece of work at Severn Trent and had a lot of experience in this area;
• Castle Water remained at level three because of its complaints performance and level one because of its policy of billing in advance. The Board heard that some signs of improvement were evident but not at the scale required;
• Water Plus (WP) remained at level three due to their complaints performance. The organisation recognised its performance was poor and had launched a complaints reduction programme in June that included measured commitments to reduce complaints. The Board welcomed the commitments from WP and suggested that similar commitments from other companies would be a positive move. The Board noted that WP had a genuine ambition to improve and it was hoped that its plans could be used to leverage change at other organisations.

33.3 The Board thanked the Policy Managers that had joined the meeting for their informative presentation and frank assessment of the company position. The assessment allowed the Board to fully understand the issues and focus its attention to.

34/21 Other Business

34.1 There were no items of other business.

35/21 Next Meeting

35.1 The next Board meeting would be on Tuesday 21 September 2021. The Chair indicated that it was hoped that the meeting could be held in person however the large meeting room in the new Birmingham office would not be available for that date. Severn Trent had agreed to allow the Board to use space at their recently opened training facility near Coventry for its meeting.

Meeting closed at 14:05

Minutes meeting held at 10:00 on Tuesday 8 June 2021 by videoconference.

Present:-

CCW Board:

• Alison Austin
• Emma Clancy
• Jeff Halliwell
• Bev Keogh
• Rob Light (Chair)
• Rachel Onikosi
• Lisa Tennant
• Rhodri Williams
  Rob Wilson

CCW staff:

• Amanda Caton, Executive Head of Communications
• Paul Hibbert, Executive Head of Business Services
• Mike Keil, Director of Policy, Research and Campaigning
• Alison Townsend, Board Secretary

15/21 Welcome, introduction and apologies

Welcome/apologies

15.1 The Chair welcomed members to the meeting and particularly the four recently appointed Board members. There were no apologies for absence. All those present briefly introduced themselves.

15.2 The Chair congratulated Paul Hibbert on his recent appointment to the position of Executive Head of Business Services.

16/21 Declarations of Interest

16.1 There were no declarations of interest relevant to the business before the Board.

17/21 Minutes, matters arising and outstanding actions

Board Minutes

17.1 The Board agreed the minutes of its meeting held on 20 April as a true record. There were no matters arising.

18/21 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts

18.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts (ARA). The Audit and Risk Management Committee had reviewed the ARA at an earlier meeting.

18.2 The Board was advised that the NAO had issued a clean audit report with only one unadjusted misstatement identified. The misstatement amounted to £2,497 and related to an ICT charge that should have been partly recognised in the previous year. The Committee noted that the final accounts showed a £13k underspend.

18.3 The Chair of the ARMC gave a brief update on its meeting at which the Committee had agreed to recommend the Board approved the 2020/21. The Board noted that the presentation and accessibility of the ARA would be reviewed ahead of the 2021/22 report.

The Board:-

1. approved the 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts; and
2. agreed that the CEO/Accounting Officer and Chair be authorised to approve any final adjustments to the document.

19/21 CCW Communications Strategy 2021-22

19.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the 2021/22

Communications Strategy to the Board for approval. The Board heard that how the roles of Communications Team members had been aligned to the key campaigns and that each campaign had dedicated communications support.

19.2 The Board reviewed the plan and recognised the ambition contained in it. The Board went on to discuss issues associated with the plan including:-

• how the Board could support CCW to deliver it. The support from Board members with the plan was welcomed and the Executive Team suggested that initially they could help by sharing its social media posts and promoting CCW among their own networks;
• the potential impact a restricted budget would have on the plan. The Board noted that budget availability was only likely to impact activities such as paid online promotion online; most planned activities would be fulfilled in house;
• how the plan would accommodate unexpected events. The Board heard that the strategy recognised that there was a risk that resources may need to be diverted to manage unexpected events; consideration would be given to changing priorities in the event of an incident;
• the Board noted the strategy was for one year and questioned if, as some of the campaigns would take longer than that to deliver, the strategy should cover a longer timeframe. The Executive Team explained that it was transitioning to a new campaigning approach and the aim was to develop communications plans that cover the duration of the campaign being supported; work was underway to on this and an update on this and communications activity on campaigns would be included on the report on progress on the campaign objectives later in the year; Action: M Keil/A Caton
• if there was a plan to work with stakeholders to leverage media coverage. The Board heard about work with stakeholders ahead of the launch of the affordability review to enhance media coverage and the benefits that had been seen from this. The Board noted that this approach would continue where appropriate; and
• plans to raise awareness of CCW’s activities with political stakeholders. The Board heard that a Stakeholder Engagement Manager had recently been appointed and that this would be one of their areas of focus.

19.3 The Board welcomed the ambitious plan and the opportunity to build on the momentum created by the affordability review and the benefits of strong partnership relationships to enhance communications activities. The Board noted that the Communications team were being encouraged to look outside of CCW and work with stakeholders to maximise the return on budget.

19.4 The Board discussed whether the plan should be approved as presented or if it should be updated to reflect the matters discussed and presented again at its next meeting in July. The Board voted on the matter with seven votes in favour of approving the recommendations set out in the paper and two against.

The Board approved the 2021/22 Communications Strategy.

20/21 Board Committee Membership

20.1 The Board considered a paper that presented proposals for appointments to Board Committees following the appointment of four new members to the Board. The Chair explained that as the Committees for England and Wales were the main way that Board members would engage with stakeholders it was proposed that all board members have a place on one of the Committees. The Board asked about the arrangements for the Committees for England and Wales and noted that the meetings in February 2021 had been held online and that stakeholders had engaged positively with the format with higher numbers joining the sessions than for the former Regional Committees.

The Board approved the proposed appointments to Board Committees to start with immediate effect.

21/21 Other Business

Independent Affordability Review

21.1 The Chair thanked everyone that had been involved in the independent affordability review for their hard work and congratulated them on the positive response the report had received. The Chair asked the Board to formally receive the report and indicated that a report considering the policy implications of the impact of the review on CCW’s policy would be presented to a future meeting.

Action: M Keil

The Board formally received the report of the independent affordability review.

22/21 Next Meeting

22.1 The next Board meeting would be on Tuesday 20 July 2021. Arrangements for the meeting would be confirmed in due course.

Meeting closed at 11:15

Minutes of the Board meeting in Private on Tuesday 20 April 2021, 11:00
by video/teleconference

Present:-

CCWater Board:

• Alison Austin
• Emma Clancy
• Rob Light (Chair)
• Rhodri Williams
• Rob Wilson

CCWater staff:

• Amanda Caton, Head of External Communications
• Paul Hibbert, Interim Head of Finance and Procurement
• Mike Keil, Head of Policy and Research
• Claire Thomas, Customer Experience Manager (for item 6/21 only)
• Alison Townsend, Board Secretary

1/21 Welcome, introduction and apologies

Welcome/apologies

1.1 The Chair welcomed members to the meeting that was taking place by video/teleconference because of restrictions associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. There were no apologies for absence.

1.2 The Chair briefly updated the Board on the current Board member recruitment process.

2/21 Declarations of Interest

2.1 Rob Wilson advised that he had set up a company to manage his ongoing consultancy work; the register of interests had been updated to reflect this.

2.2 Alison Austin reported that she had been appointed to the Food Standards Agency Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes; the start date for this appointment was still to be confirmed.

2.3 There were no declarations of interest relevant to the business before the Board.

3/21 Minutes, matters arising and outstanding actions

Board Minutes

3.1 The Board agreed the minutes of its meeting held in private on 9 March as a true record. There were no matters arising.

Outstanding Actions

3.2 The Board considered a paper that updated it on progress with actions from past meetings; two actions were marked to be discharged. There had been no items of electronic business for the Board since its last meeting.

The Board agreed to discharge the action from previous minutes reference 171/19 and 105.2/20.

Audit & Risk Management Committee Minutes

3.3 The Board received the minutes of the meeting of the Audit and Risk Management Committee held on 23 March 2021. The Committee Chair gave a short overview of the matters considered which had included the:-

• internal audit plan for 2021/22;
• timetable for the approval and laying of the 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts; and
• updated Risk Policy.

4/21 CEO Commentary

4.1 The Board considered and noted a paper by the Chief Executive that updated the Board on current operational matters at CCW. The Chief Executive drew the Board’s attention to a number of key issues:-

• ongoing work on employee engagement and organisational change including the first meeting of the Senior Leadership Team;
• the 2021/24 Forward Work Programme had been published; positive feedback had been received on the new format; and
• work to address the backlog in Consumer Relations cases.

4.2 The Board asked about the reporting line for the Senior Leadership Team and was advised that it had been established by and reported to the Executive Team; it had no formal relationship with the Board. The Board went on to discuss CCW’s work to improve complaint handling in the water sector and its proposed new complaint process, with CCW as the front door to the post-company complaint stages. The Board recognised the progress that had been made in this area and the improvement it should bring for customers.

5/21 Finance Report

5.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on CCW’s financial position for the period to end February 2021. The Board was advised that the forecast outturn had reduced from £26k underspend at end February to £13k underspend at end March. The Board noted that the external auditors had been scheduled to start their review at the start of May but this work was now planned for the following week.

5.2 The Board recognised the action taken by the Executive Team since September to move from the significant underspend forecast at that point to the current position.

6/21 Business Case: Specialist Complaint Handling Agency

6.1 The Board considered a paper that sought approval to secure a new call-off contract with a specialist complaints handling agency from 1 July 2021. The paper set out the scope of the proposed contract and how the current contract had been used. The Board noted that the approval of business cases for multi-year contracts was a matter reserved for decision by the Board; this was an opportunity or the Board to consider what it wanted this contract to provide.

6.2 The Board discussed the issues raised in the paper and:-

• noted that the specialist resource was intended to manage spikes in workload;
• asked if the Board could receive more regular information on the use of this contract and complaint numbers. This would be included in the CEO update. Action: E Clancy
• the Board pointed out that Thames recently had funded resource of this type and questioned if this should be CCW’s standard approach. CCW was looking at developing a mechanism where company support could be triggered in situations where when an individual company has a clear adverse impact on CCWs ability to manage its caseload;
• how big the market for specialist call handling agencies was. The Board heard that last time the work had been tendered there were two main companies in the market. It was expected that they would both respond to the tender invitation and it was hoped that some smaller companies would also submit bids.

The Board:-

1. agreed that CCW should procure a call-off contract with a specialist complaints handling agency for a period of up to four years (2 years plus an option to extend for up to a further two years); and
2. noted that if during this period support was not needed, the contract would not be used and no spend incurred.

7/21 Board Committees: membership and structure

7.1 The Board considered a paper that proposed the appointment of Rob Wilson to the Audit and Risk Management Committee until new members were appointed to the CCW Board and the Chair has completed a review of Committee membership. The paper also proposed that the Advisory Committee, whose role was ‘to provide advice to the Board on national matters that form part of CCW’s responsibilities’, be wound up. The Board noted that the Advisory Committee only when needed and the paper proposed that instead of retaining the Committee with fixed membership the Board could create focused/time limited Committees as needed and appoint members to them to suit the matter to be considered.

The Board agreed :-

1. that Rob Wilson be appointed to the Audit and Risk Management Committee until the time that new members are appointed to the CCW Board and the Chair has completed a review of Committee membership and made recommendations on this to the Board.
2. that the Advisory Committee be wound up with immediate effect.

8/21 CCW Board – Register of Interests

8.1 The Board considered a paper that presented a summary of the register of interests for the CCWater Board for the 2020/21 reporting period and noted that it would be referenced in the 2020/21 Annual Report and Accounts. The Board advised of a small number of minor adjustments to the summary.

The Board approved the summary Register of Board Member interests for the 2020/21 reporting period for publication subject to the inclusion of the changes agreed at the meeting.

9/21 CCW Board – arrangements for meetings and external engagement

9.1 The Board considered a paper that presented proposals for changes to its meetings particularly:-

• the Board moved to six formal board meetings in each year in January, March, May, July, September and November. The paper proposed minor adjustments to the dates schedules in 2021/22 to move towards the new pattern of meetings. The Board recognised that two short single item meetings would be required each year to take time critical decisions on the Annual Report and Accounts and the Forward Work Programme;
• formal board meetings would be supplementary with informal meetings where the Board could discuss and think freely about current and upcoming strategic issues; it was likely there would be two of these sessions each year;
• that the Board stops meeting in public and the new Committees for England and Wales become the primary way that the Board engages with stakeholders. The Chair emphasised that this change did not preclude the Board choosing to meet in public if necessary, for example in response to a significant event; and
• the paper also outlined a revised process for strategy development. In addition to formal consideration at meetings it was proposed to engage with Board members informally both individually and in a group session.

9.2 The Board discussed the paper, supported the proposals and welcomed the informal strategic discussions that were planned. The Board enquired about the suggestion that its meetings should continue virtually after Covid-19 restrictions were lifted. The Chair explained that he wanted to take the same blended approach with the Board as was planned for CCW generally and that he expected the more in-depth strategic discussions would still be face to face with more formal sessions continuing virtually. The Board recognised that there were costs associated with meetings in person and those funds could be redirected if it met virtually.

The Board agreed:-

1. the revised approach to Board meetings and stakeholder engagement summarised above;
2. the adjustments to dates for its meetings in 2021/22 and dates for meetings in 2022/23 set out in the paper;
3. the arrangements for Board involvement in strategy development and endorsed the overall approach to the strategy process.

10/21 Communications Update – 2020-21

10.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that presented an overview of performance against the 2020/21 Communications Plan. The Board heard that Covid-19 had adversely affected media coverage as a number of key contacts had been furloughed; an uplift in activity had been seen in Q4 as restrictions started to lift.

10.2 The Board reviewed the paper and asked which coverage CCW had been particularly pleased with. CCW explained that references to it on the Martin Lewis Money Show always generated increased traffic to the website and the water meter calculator. The Board welcomed the introduction of the translation and ‘Recite Me’ tools on CCW’s website and heard that users testing was planned for the website to inform future development.

10.3 The Board heard about plans to align the 2021/22 Communications Plan with the campaign plans and also to build in-depth relationships with key relevant media outlets and influencers. The Board noted that the 2021/22 plan would be presented at its next meeting.

11/21 Policy and Research Update

11.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on key issues for the policy and research area since its last meeting. The Board noted that-

• the CMA had published the outcome of its redetermination process on 17 March. CCW had been disappointed by the outcome as consumers gained little from the process which was estimated to have cost over £33m;
• work on the affordability study was on track and CCW was currently discussing the findings with stakeholders and work was underway to plan the launch. The Board was disappointed it had not yet been briefed on the review findings and recommendations; a session would be scheduled; Action: A Caton
• research on kitchen sink habits had recently been concluded. Findings had included the fact that people generally underestimated the amount of water they used and that behaviours/habits around the kitchen sink varied and impacted the amount of water used; and
• the Board welcomed the fact that CCW was helping Professor Malby, who had spoken at the Committee for England, to make further connections within the industry. The Board noted that CCW wanted to do more to empower consumers to take action and get better performance from water and sewerage companies.

12/21 Company Accountability

12.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on the issues that had reached the third point on CCW’s escalation framework. The Board noted that the four companies at level three were unchanged and that the new senior staff with responsibility for complaints were now in place at Thames Water and Southern Water.

12.2 The Board recognised that it would take time to address the problems at the companies concerned but was concerned that despite promises to improve little progress was evident. The Board discussed how it could support CCW to drive the necessary change for customers. CCW emphasised that the problems at the four companies at level three were all different; there was no single solution and so tailored action and support was needed.

13/21 Other Business

13.1 There were no items of other business.

14/21 Next Meeting

14.1 The next Board meeting would be on Tuesday 8 June 2021 and would be followed by a Board strategy session. Arrangements for both would be confirmed in due course.

Meeting closed at 13:15

Minutes of the Board meeting in Private on Tuesday 9 March 2021, 11:00
by video/teleconference.

Present:-

CCWater Board:

• Alison Austin
• Emma Clancy
• Rob Light (Chair)
• Rhodri Williams
• Rob Wilson

CCWater staff:

• Hannah Bradley, Senior Policy Manager (Market Intelligence) (for item 109/20 only)
• Amanda Caton, Head of External Communications
• Paul Hibbert, Interim Head of Finance and Procurement
• Mike Keil, Head of Policy and Research
• Phil Marshall, Deputy Chief Executive
• Carl Pegg, Head of Consumer Relations
• Jenny Suggate, Senior Policy Manager (Strategy) (for item 104/20 only)
• Alison Townsend, Board Secretary

99/20 Welcome, introduction and apologies

Welcome/apologies

99.1 The Chair welcomed members to the meeting that was taking place by video/teleconference because of restrictions associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. There were no apologies for absence.

99.2 The Chair briefly updated the Board on the current Board member recruitment process.

100/20 Declarations of Interest

100.1 There were no declarations of interest relevant to the business before the Board.

101/20 Minutes, matters arising and outstanding actions

Board Minutes

101.1 The Board agreed the minutes of its meeting held in private on 26 January as a true record. There were no matters arising.

Outstanding Actions

101.2 The Board considered a paper that updated it on progress with actions from past meetings; two actions were marked to be discharged. There had been no items of electronic business for the Board since its last meeting.

The Board agreed to discharge the action from previous minutes reference 24.2/20 and 97.2/20.

Audit & Risk Management Committee Minutes

101.3 The Board received the minutes of the meeting of the Audit and Risk Management Committee held on 26 January 2021. The Committee Chair gave a short overview of the matters considered which had included:-

• the report of an audit of the electronic purchasing system that had received substantial assurance;
• the NAO’s year end audit plan;
• the risk register; and
• the Committee’s decision to appoint RSM as CCW’s internal audit provider for two years from 1 April 2021 with the option for an extension for a further two years.

Human Resources & Remuneration Committee

101.4 The Board received the minutes of the meeting of the Audit and Risk Management Committee held on 3 February 2021. The Committee Chair gave a short overview of the matters considered which had included an update on the Cultural Change project and the new Leadership Charter. The Committee had welcomed the charter and the ‘bottom up’ approach to its development.

Committee for England

101.5 The Board received the minutes of the first meeting of the Committee for England held on 16 February 2021. The Committee Chair gave a short overview of the issues discussed at the meeting that had focused on river water quality particularly community interest/pressure around bathing waters and chalk streams. Over 40 people had joined the meeting that had generated a robust debate.

Committee for Wales

101.7 The Board received the minutes of the first meeting of the Committee for Wales held on 23 February 2021. The Committee Chair gave a short overview of the issues discussed at the meeting that had focused on sustainable drainage and how communities were consulted on and engaged with the issues; the presentations had stimulated a lively discussion.

101.9 The Board enquired how the learning from the Committees for England and Wales would be shared. CCW explained that consideration was being given to how this could be reflected in the sharing best practice programme. The Board noted that this work would include a ‘Best Practice Hub’ that would be available to all.

102/20 CEO Commentary

102.1 The Board considered and noted a paper by the Chief Executive that updated the Board on current operational matters at CCW. The Chief Executive drew the Board’s attention to a number of key issues:-

• the position with the review of the end to end complaints journey that the Board had discussed in September 2020 (minute 49/20 refers). The Board was advised that work on the review had progressed well and the preliminary conclusions were similar to the model previously considered by the Board. The arrangements being explored were for CCW to act as a “front door” for complaints after the company stage and to take the role of consumer advocate throughout the process. The CEO emphasised that discussions were still underway on this matter and that the changes would bring benefits for water customers and would be an opportunity for and enhanced role for CCW;
• work underway on employee engagement including the creation of a Diversity and Inclusion Group. The Board was advised that the group would welcome interaction with the Board;
• the move to the new Birmingham office was still scheduled for July 2021 and the Board noted that the time available to pack and move the office between return to the office after lockdown and the move date would be tight. The Board asked about preparations for the opportunity for cultural change that would come with the new office and was updated on the work underway on this including webinars that had outlined the new ways of working and the opportunities that the new space would bring;

103/20 Finance Report

103.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on CCW’s financial position for the period to end January 2021. The Board noted that the forecast outturn had changed since the report had been finalised and was now expected to be an underspend of between £30 and £40k. The paper presented was in a new format that was welcomed by the Board.

103.2 The Board discussed the fact that CCW was not permitted to carry forward funds to the next financial year but had been able to do so in previous years. The Board was advised that CCW had challenged the decision with Defra and that new people in its finance team had adjusted their approach and had made it clear that the £100k carry forward previously permitted would not now be allowed. The Board noted that any cash underspend may need to be used to reduce the licence fee in the following year.

104/20 CCW Strategy 2021-24

104.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that presented the CCW Strategy (Forward Work Programme) for 2021-24 to the Board for approval. The Board had considered an earlier draft of the strategy at its meeting on 15 December 2020 and since then CCW had consulted on the strategy and Licence Fee (minute 105/20 below also refers). The draft strategy had been received positively by stakeholders and the changes resulting from the consultation were set out in an annex to the paper.

104.2 The Board reviewed the strategy and changes and discussed:-

• why the ‘clean up sewer flooding’ within 2 hours and 4 hours references had been removed; the background to this change was briefly outlined to the Board;
• if the Board should spend more time discussing issues around sewerage. The Board noted that ‘End Sewer Flooding’ was a key campaign in the Strategy and an informal Board session on sewerage was planned for later in the year;
• how the strategy document would appear on CCW’s website. The Board noted that once approved the document would go through a design process with CCW’s branding applied; an accessible version would also be created for the website; and
• if there were aspects of the strategy where CCW could be more aspirational, for example in relation to the exceptional weather caveat. CCW explained the background to that element of the Strategy and reiterated that CCW needed to be both challenging and realistic in the most appropriate way to drive improvement.

The Board approved the CCW Strategy 2021-24.

105/20 2021/22 Budget Proposals

105.1 The Board considered a paper that presented the proposed CCW budget and Licence Fee proposals for 2021/22. The Board had considered a draft budget at its meeting on 15 December 2020 and the budget proposal had been consulted on together with the 2021-24 Strategy (minute 104/20 above also refers). The Board heard that no changes to the budget figure were proposed as a result of the consultation and that the Licence Fee would remain at 22p/bill payer.

105.2 The Board went on to debate what CCW could deliver for water customers if the Licence Fee were higher and how any increase might be addressed with stakeholders. The Board heard that this matter had been examined in a past piece of research work that would be circulated to the Board.

Action: P Marshall

CCW recognised that resources were a constraint on its ambition but suggested there was a need to build credibility before pushing for this type of change. The Board indicated that it was open to considering an increase in the Licence Fee if it could bring clear customer benefit and recognised the need to consider the timing of any proposal; the Executive would consider this matter further.

Action: Executive Team

The Board agreed a Budget of £6m and the Licence Fee of £5.970m for CCW for the 2021/22 financial year.

106/20 Strategic Risk Register: high rated risks

106.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that presented an overview of the CCW risk profile and detail of the risks categorised as high in the CCW risk register. The Board noted that the Audit and Risk Management Committee reviewed the whole risk register at each of its full meetings and that the high level risks were presented to the Board for review periodically.

106.2 The Chair of the Audit & Risk Management Committee briefly explained that the Executive Team had recently completed a review of the risk register to create a shorter, more strategic document. The outcome of that process was the merger of risks with definitions that overlapped and also the closure of a number of other risks that were being managed sufficiently to be removed from the register. The Board noted that the register now contained 16 risks and that after mitigation three were categorised as high, 10 as medium and three low.

107/20 Policy and Research Update

107.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on key issues for the policy and research area since its last meeting. The Board noted that-

• there had been no significant issues associated with the recent cold weather and the thaw that followed;
• the CMA had not yet published the outcome of its redetermination process. The Board noted the deadline for the CMA to publish its decision was 18 March 2021. The Board heard that all electricity and gas transmission and distribution networks had lodged an appeal with the CMA regarding their recent price determinations; it was possible the appeals from water companies had influenced their decisions;
• CCW was currently refining its conclusions/recommendations for the affordability review and drawing together the supporting evidence. The emerging thinking had been discussed with Water Company CEOs both as a group and individually. The Board noted that purdah associated with the Welsh elections for the Senedd had meant that the date for the publication of the review had been delayed until late May 2021. The Board asked about the potential tension between the review’s recommendations and political views on affordability issues. CCW assured the Board that Defra was kept updated on the work and had been advised that it was the Secretary of State’s expectations that the matters being discussed, including consideration of a single social tariff, would be included in the review.

108/20 Company Accountability

108.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on the issues that had reached the third point on CCW’s escalation framework. The Board noted that four companies remained at level three and that all of the companies had been placed at level three because of issues connected with complaint handling performance. CCW emphasised it would take time to address the issues. The Board heard about senior level personnel changes at Thames Water and Southern Water that were hoped would drive improvement in complaint performance.

109/20 Proposed Customer Research and Consultancy Programme 2021-22

109.1 The Board considered a paper that set out plans for the customer research and consultancy programme for 2021-22. The Board heard that the plan had been constructed to enable CCW to be more agile in its approach to research and respond to in year events. The Board noted that CCW had reached an agreement with Ofwat on an approach to collaborative working on areas of joint interest and would enable CCW to get better value from its research spend.

109.2 The Board recognised the benefits of a flexible/agile approach to the research programme and discussed how the Board would be updated on this. CCW explained that it routinely presented a mid-year update on research activities; any changes to the programme would be included in that report.

The Board agree the broad shape of the consumer research programme and the consultancy work as presented.

110/20 2021 Review of Board Effectiveness – report of review

110.1/20 The Board considered a paper that presented the report of the 2021 board effectiveness review together with an action plan that had been drawn up in consultation with the Chair. The Chair recognised that there were a number of actions for him that he would update on in due course and asked all board member to feedback any further comments on the areas indicated in the action plan. The Chair also explained that CCW was overdue an external board effectiveness review that he planned to progress towards the end of 2021.

The Board received the report of the 2021 Board Effectiveness Survey and agreed associated action plan.

111/20 Other Business

Phil Marshall

111.1 The Chair referred to the fact that Phil Marshall would be leaving CCW in mid March and, on behalf of the Board, thanked him for his support to the Board and the role he played in steering CCW.

112/20 Next Meeting

112.1 The next Board meeting would be on Tuesday 20 April 2020, arrangements would be confirmed in due course.

Meeting closed at 14:40

Minutes of the Board meeting in Private on Tuesday 26 January 2021, 11:00
by video/teleconference.

Present:-

CCWater Board:

• Alison Austin
• Emma Clancy
• Bernard Crump
• David Heath
• Julie Hill
• Rob Light (Chair)
• Tony Redmond
• Rhodri Williams
• Rob Wilson

CCWater staff:

• [redacted: personal data], Senior Customer Caseworker (for item 95/20 only)
• Christina Blackwell, Senior Policy Manager (for item 94/20 only)
• Amanda Caton, Head of External Communications
• Karen Gibbs, Senior Policy Manager (for item 94/20 only)
• Paul Hibbert, Interim Head of Finance and Procurement
• Steve Hobbs, Senior Policy Manager (for item 94/20 only)
• Mike Keil, Head of Policy and Research
• Phil Marshall, Deputy Chief Executive
• Lia Moutselou, Senior Policy Manager (for item 94/20 only)
• Carl Pegg, Head of Consumer Relations
• Jenny Suggate, Senior Policy Manager (for item 94/20 only)
• Claire Thomas, Customer Experience Manager (for item 95/20 only)
• Alison Townsend, Board Secretary
• Andy White, Senior Policy Manager (for item 94/20 only)

88/20 Welcome, introduction and apologies

Welcome/apologies

88.1 The Chair welcomed members to the meeting that was taking place by video/teleconference because of restrictions associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. There were no apologies for absence.

88.2 The Chair welcomed Paul Hibbert to the meeting and thanked him for stepping in to support CCW as Interim Head of Finance and Procurement.

88.3 The Chair briefly updated the Board on the current Board member recruitment process.

89/20 Declarations of Interest

89.1 Rob Wilson advised that he had a number of consultancy positions in the health and energy sectors which were ongoing.

89.2 Tony Redmond reported that he had been appointed as Chair of the Nottingham City Council Improvement and Assurance Board from January 2021.

89.3 David Heath reported that he had been appointed Chair of the Costs Lawyer Standards Board; the appointment would commence in March 2021.

89.4 There were no declarations of interest relevant to the business before the Board.

90/20 Minutes, matters arising and outstanding actions

Board Minutes

90.1 The Board agreed the minutes of its meeting held in private on 3 November as a true record.

Outstanding Actions

90.2 The Board considered a paper that updated it on progress with actions from past meetings and items of electronic business since its last meeting; one action was marked to be discharged.

90.3 The Board had taken no decisions by electronic business since its last meeting and no items had been circulated electronically to the Board for information.

The Board agreed to discharge the action from previous minute reference 44.2/20.

91/20 CEO Commentary

91.1 The Board considered and noted a paper by the Chief Executive that updated the Board on current operational matters at CCW. The Chief Executive explained that since the last Board meeting the UK had entered another period of Covid-19 lockdown. The Board noted that this lockdown was particularly challenging for CCW as there were a number of high priority pieces of work underway. The Chief Executive drew the Board’s attention to a number of key issues:-

• a partner organisation had been appointed to support CCW in its organisational development work;
• two webinars had been held to engage with stakeholders on the draft Forward Work Programme with stakeholders. The sessions had been well attended;
• 10 water companies had pledged to improve on the industry standard to respond to complaints; most companies had reduce the target for response to five working days from April. The Board welcomed this commitment.

91.2 The CEO indicated that she hoped to also use the regular CEO update to give the Board the opportunity to look at areas of CCW business in more detail. Communications had been identified as the focus of the first update and the Head of Head of External Communications updated the Board on the recent activities of the Communications team which had included:-

• the completion of the work to rebrand CCW including the roll out of a shorter Welsh strapline;
• work on the corporate tone of voice which had arisen from the rebranding exercise;
• a new approach to social media communications aimed to actively engage with consumers more including more Welsh language content;
• an auto translation tool that would be rolled out on CCW’s website shortly and would include both language and accessibility options; and
• the introduction of StreamYard for to live stream the launch of the affordability review and for other video content.

91.3 The Board heard that future plans for the Communications Team included the move to a business partnering approach to service delivery enabling team members to be involved in all aspects of a project’s delivery. Work was also underway to bring the planned campaigns to life including the development of tailored communications plans for each campaign including project specific metrics.

91.4 The Board discussed the communications activities outlined including:-

• how CCW measured the reach of its social media activities. CCW explained that it had moved from measuring opportunities to view a post to engagement with that post;
• if CCW had considered partnering with other organisations to increase its impact The Board heard about the work that CCW was doing in partnership with Ofwat and a meeting with the National Home Improvement Agency to explore how its networks could be utilised for example to promote water efficiency; and
• the board emphasised the need for social media messaging to align with CCW’s values.

92/20 Finance Report

92.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on CCW’s financial position for the period to end November 2020. The Board noted that since its last meeting CCW had completed a reforecasting exercise after which the forecast year-end underspend had increased. The Executive Team had looked at ways the underspend could be used wisely and it was hoped that the final outturn would be no more than £75k underspend and ideally lower.

92.2 The Board was advised that in the past CCW had been permitted to carry forward up to £100k to the next financial year; Defra had missed a deadline to communicate to HM Treasury carry forward requests from its Arm’s Length Bodies and this was unlikely to be available as an option.

93/20 Policy and Research Update

93.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated it on key issues for the policy and research area since its last meeting. The Board noted that-

• requests for payment holidays from business customers in the current lockdown were lower than had been seen than in the earlier lockdowns. CCW emphasised that this did not necessarily mean there no issues but that the impact was not yet visible;
• the CMA had recently issued a number of working papers for consultation in relation to its redetermination process;
• work on CCW’s affordability project was on track and was nearing the end of its analysis phase. CCW indicated that a good range of responses had been received in response to the call for evidence including some from private individuals. CCW was currently carrying out some work to reach out to BAME communities in relation to the review as responses from these groups had been disappointing. Work to develop options from which final recommendations would be developed would start shortly. The Board members on the project steering group briefly updated the board and noted that the timescale for the work had been tight but that a good project plan had been developed and work was progressing to plan. Both board members commended the team for managing an ambitious project virtually during a pandemic;

93.2 The Board went on to discuss issues associated with the report:-

• if companies had been invited to put forward adjustments to their PR19 final determinations in the light of Covid-19. The Board noted that Defra was leading a green recovery initiative and companies had been invited to put forward proposals to improve the environment and create jobs;
• if a Communications Plan was in place for the affordability review. CCW advised that communications was included in the wider project plan and was briefly updated on it; and
• how CCW has managing the political aspects of the affordability review. The Board noted that CCW was in regular contact with Defra and Welsh Government in relation to the review and emerging thinking was checked with both governments.

94/20 Company Accountability – deep dive

94.1 The Board considered received a presentation that looked at those issues that were at levels one and two on CCW’s escalation framework and how this had changed since July 2020. The Board received regular updates on those issues that were at level three and so these were not included in this presentation.

94.2 The Board particularly noted:-

• Thames Water had made progress to address the backlog in complaints but had recently seen a further surge in complaints; a large proportion of these were related to increases in charges for metered customers because of higher usage during lockdown and during the previous hot summer; and
• the organisational culture at Hafren Dyfrdwy was changing with dedicated teams working on HD matters; the change had improved ownership of issues;

94.3 The Board went on to discuss the issues raised and asked:-

• if the new CEO at Thames Water had changed the organisational culture. The Board heard that the new CEO had introduced a customer first strategy and was driving change through the organisation; and
• if there was more that could be done to address the issues that had been at level three for some time. CCW assured the Board that it spent time considering what additional action could be taken to drive change to address the issues at level three and that issues were discussed with Ofwat as appropriate.

95/20 Customer Case

95.1 The Board considered and noted a paper that updated on a recent customer case that related to a long unread business meter. The report outlined the challenge that CCW had made to WaterPlus on its resolution of the case. The challenge had caused WaterPlus to contact the water wholesaler who had recognised that it had failed to read the customer’s meter and a full allowance was applied to the customer’s clean and waste water account. The Board noted that the outcome had been the clearance of the outstanding balance and a credit of £3,000 to the account.

95.2 The Board congratulated CCW on a great outcome and heard how the Consumer Relations team worked together to determine the best approach to challenging an issue.

96/20 Retiring member overview

96.1 The Board received a short presentation from the four members that were due to retire from the CCW Board at the end of January and February 2021 reflecting on their time on the Board. The Board noted the points raised in the slides which would be drawn on as CCW continued to develop and refine its approach. The Chair thanked the retiring board members for the frank and open approach they had taken to this item.

97/20 Other Business

Retiring Board Members

97.1 The Chair referred to the fact that Bernard Crump and Julie Hill would be leaving the CCW Board at the end of January 2021 and David Heath and Tony Redmond at the end of February 2021 as they all reached the end of their appointment terms. The Chair thanked them all for the strong dynamic they brought to the Board and noted that they were leaving CCW in a strong position.

Appointment of Internal Audit service provider

97.2 The Chair of the Audit and Risk Management Committee reported that the Committee would be considering a recommendation to appoint an internal audit service provider as the current contract would expire at the end of March 2021. The Chair would update the Board on the Committee’s decision electronically.

Action: A Austin

98/20 Next Meeting

98.1 The next Board meeting will be on Tuesday 9 March 2020, arrangements would be confirmed in due course.

Meeting closed at 14:40