Delivering our plan
The importance of financing our proposals
The financing of our five-year plan is a key consideration. We have to pay not just for our day-to-day operations but also for the cost of borrowing the very large sums required to maintain and improve our assets, such as reservoirs, treatment works, water mains and sewers.
Bills also include a reasonable return on the investment made in the company by those who have paid to own it. This is essential if we are to attract the investment needed.
Our costs are scrutinised and challenged by Ofwat to ensure they are no higher than they need to be to maintain a viable business.
Bill levels
Under our proposals, bills will rise by an average of just over 3% (excluding inflation) for each of the five years. In 2014/15, the average bill will be £46 higher than in 2009/10.
Our average combined bill will remain below £1 per day. We believe that, by the end of the five-year period, it will still be no more than the national average.
The average increase for customers who receive only sewerage services from us will by £22, while those who receive only drinking water from us will see an average rise of £24.
Ensuring our services remain affordable
Affordability is a key concern for us. The area we serve includes some of the most affluent parts of the country, but also covers seven of the 20 poorest boroughs in England and Wales.
To help limit demand for water, we aim to significantly increase the proportion of metered homes in our region. We are very mindful, however, of the effect this could have on low-income households, and will introduce a range of measures to address this.
These include offering a means-tested tariff, giving discounted bills for qualifying customers, and establishing an independent charitable trust to provide a safety net for those experiencing severe financial hardship.
We will also adopt a targeted approach to metering, in which we aim to avoid installing them in areas of high-density housing, such as flats and local authority-owned accommodation.
Employing the right people
We must ensure we have staff with the right skills and attitude to put our plan into action.
We are making Thames Water an employer of choice - for example, by adopting more flexible benefits packages, performance-related pay, and a programme to measure and build employee engagement.
We are also establishing better recruitment processes and developing our staff to ensure they have the right capabilities.
In addition to this, we need to ensure we engage skilled contractors for our engineering projects, especially as there is a highly competitive market for these services in London and the South-East.
We intend to tender a significant proportion of our work as early as possible in the five-year planning period, to attract skilled suppliers at the earliest opportunity.
