Thursday 12 September 2019

Ofwat seeks chief for new regulators’ infrastructure alliance

Ofwat has launched a search for a managing director to head up an alliance of regulators that will support joint water infrastructure projects.

The Regulators' Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development (RAPID) will bring together staff from Ofwat, the Environment Agency and Drinking Water Inspectorate to follow a range of projects for inter-regional water transfer and other joint projects necessary to provide resilient supplies into the future.

Formally, RAPID is based in Ofwat and the appointment will report to the CEO of the regulator as well as being accountable to the Board of the alliance.

The goals of RAPID are:

• To ensure the timely and co-ordinated development of strategic infrastructure schemes to the point where they are construction-ready for the next regulatory period starting in 2025
• To provide leadership and momentum to recommend a future-proof regulatory framework that best supports the vision on an enduring basis
• To provide a seamless regulatory interface for the strategic schemes

Ofwat said: “RAPID will need senior leadership to build relationships with the key stakeholders and oversee the creation of new frameworks covering assets that, over time, could be worth billions of pounds. To be effective, it will need the confidence of the boards of the regulators and companies.

“RAPID is not a new regulator in its own right, but an enhancement to the way of working of the sponsor regulators. Formal decision making powers remain with the sponsor regulators, with RAPID making recommendations to them. This approach will be formalised in a Memorandum of Understanding among the sponsor regulators.”