The compliance committee was established in 2023 to ensure that the board had an even greater opportunity to provide early and in-depth scrutiny of regulatory submissions and to help ensure the accuracy and transparency of information presented to regulators and customers. The compliance committee is made up of three directors, two of whom are non-executive directors. Providing the required oversight, the committee offers technical knowledge, experience and expertise in a variety of areas, including engineering, regulation, finance and audit.

To help ensure compliance with the relevant regulatory reporting requirements prior to submission to the board for approval, the committee has, in 2023, reviewed key regulatory submissions including the annual performance report and AMP8 business plan. The committee challenged the underlying governance approach for these submissions, while providing guidance to improve the clarity of the information presented.

The risk and compliance statement, for example, is a key document within the annual performance report. While providing detail on how we understand our obligations and the systems and controls to manage these, this statement also provides information on any known departures from compliance over the course of the year, known as the Table of Departures. Before the annual performance report submission, the committee challenged the articulation of several departures and made recommendations to enhance the clarity of the information within the Table of Departures.

The committee is also charged with reviewing compliance with other areas of legislation and regulation as they see fit. Additional matters considered by the committee during 2023/24 included reviewing the approach to assurance in areas considered higher risk, such as storm overflow spill reporting, leakage and per capita consumption data. Extra scrutiny in each of these areas has contributed to further refinement of approach and greater confidence over the published information.

The plan up to 2050 will require us to invest around £19 billion in the North West. It’s the largest investment of its kind and will bring a massive reduction in sewer pollution entering rivers, beaches and lakes across the North West, as Jo Harrison, asset management director, explains.

By 2050 the goal is to ensure that storm overflows, the relief mechanism that prevents sewers from backing up and flooding homes and businesses in heavy rain, each operate less than ten times a year. We monitor each one of our overflows, capturing real-time data that gives us a clear picture on how frequently they’re operating, and which should be tackled first – those that are causing harm to river systems. We’ve accelerated delivery at some of the highest priority sites and by 2030 more than 430 storm overflows will be improved, through a mix of nature-based schemes, agile solutions and larger construction projects.

A scheme where a quick solution has had a big impact is in Cargo, a village near the River Eden in Cumbria. A small wastewater treatment works in the relatively remote location services 254 homes and, having no mains power, is reliant on a gravity-based system. The size, scale and location of the site brings multiple challenges, and the local storm overflow was spilling with even modest use, discharging into a local water course.

Following approval of our proposed Accelerated Infrastructure Delivery programme, we moved quickly to create an interim solution. In just 14 weeks, we installed a new tank to provide temporary storage for spills and an additional storm tank to add a further 75m³ capacity, completing that work in August 2023. Where previously the site could treat three litres of wastewater a second, it now treats 17 litres a second. Crucially, spills have reduced significantly, from 343 in 2022 to just nine from September 2023 up to the end of March 2024.

Of course, while Cargo provides a great example of a site where we moved quickly to deliver a rapid solution, the majority of sites need a more substantial and 
longer-term approach. One of our much larger projects has seen a vast new underground stormwater storage tank, capable of holding almost two million litres of water, being constructed in Nelson, near Burnley, Lancashire. A combination of an increasing population in the area and the impact of climate change created a need to introduce extra capacity in the sewer system. The stormwater tank will act as a ‘holding area’ for the extra rainwater that enters the sewer network during times of heavy rainfall, meaning the system is less likely to be overwhelmed and reducing spills into the River Calder. 

Projects like these form part of our commitment to create better rivers, making the North West stronger, greener and healthier.