Private Water Supply

How our private water supply service came into being

The nature of the private water supply service we offer at Cholderton & District Water Company can be seen below. For enquiries, please contact our offices directly.

The journey towards becoming private

The survey of Cholderton’s customers and Ofwat’s Consultation under Section 8 of the Water Industry Act produced a general agreement to the proposal that Cholderton should become a Private Supply. Before the change to Private Supply, Ofwat required the company to be part of a Trust as this would provide customers a greater certainty when it came to the continuity of their rights. The Cholderton Estate Trust was set up and gifted shares that gave it a majority and controlling shareholding in the company.

Trustee responsibilities

The Trustees will act as an oversight on the business to ensure that the company’s management maintain their commitment to customers and consumers on standards of service and support.

This undertaking is summarised in a document headed ‘Commitment to Customers’, which also emphasises the important role of the company’s Customer Challenge & Advisory Group.

Why private status was necessary

In relation to its size and resources, the company had been faced with a disproportionate burden of regulation. It was realised that this would increase still further with the opening of the non-household retail market and the new integrated approach to business plans which led to PR19.

An application was made to Ofwat for the company to change its status to that of a private supply. Every customer received a letter on the subject in the last week of February 2017. An open forum was held in the Shipton Bellinger Village Centre on 4th March. Ofwat opened a consultation under section 8 of the Water Industry Act 1991 that paved the way for the change. At the same time, a further letter of explanation was sent to all customers that included a response slip inviting customers to give their views on the proposal. 251 customers responded (40%) and 72% of those agreed to the proposal.

Ofwat accepted the result but nevertheless required the majority shareholding in the company to be held by a trust that would give an undertaking to provide customers with a level of protection that closely mirrored the statutory rights they had previously. Following the formation of the Cholderton Estate Trust, Cholderton became a private supply with effect from 1st May 2018.

Consumer input through CCAG

Cholderton formed a customer challenge group (CCG) to allow water consumers to have input into the company’s ‘Business Plan’, which preceded the 2015 – 2020 price review. After the company became a Private Supply in May 2018, the CCG was reconstituted as the Customer Challenge and Advisory Group (CCAG) with a remit to play an enhanced role in the company’s engagement with its customers. This includes the setting of performance targets, in agreement with the company’s management, and monitoring how the company meets the outcomes that have been agreed. The CCAG will play an important role in discussions with the representatives of the Trust that owns the company in the setting of water charges.