Below are key performance indicators (KPIs) for particular areas of Ofwat’s activities for 2025-26. These KPIs respond to the UK Government’s regulator action plan.
These KPIs reflect the commitments in our 2025-26 forward programme and current service level commitments. We plan to refine and build on them through the year.
1. PR24 Delivery Plans
Goal: Improve the transparency of the progress companies are making towards delivery of PR24 enhancement programme
KPIs:
- Hold companies to account by reviewing delivery plan submissions and identifying variations in forecast delivery compared to final determinations and the reasons for these variations
- Engage with the sector to improve the accessibility of delivery plans so that customers and stakeholders understand what companies are delivering in PR24
- Working with partner regulators, publication of our delivery plan review findings at least once a year.
2. Major Projects/RAPID
Goal: To simplify MP/RAPID ways of working, to make it easier for projects to input and to progress
KPIs:
- Publish standardised templates for key areas to reduce the time taken to deliver projects and increase transparency
- Engage with sector, to review and simplify current RAPID Gates and Ofwat Major Project stages in order to streamline the process and reduce regulatory burden
- Continue to build internal capacity and capability to facilitate the delivery of the pipeline of major projects and review new projects as they arise
- Publish (i) updated and (ii) additional guidance with regards both DPC and SIPR by the end of 2025
- Reassess and publish our assurance approach for the pipeline by end of FY 2025-26
- Increasing supply chain and investor engagement to promote the pipeline opportunities and increase the number of significant companies active in the supply chain by 6 by the end of FY 2025-26
3. Enforcement
Goal: Hold companies to account through compliance monitoring and proportionate enforcement action, expeditiously progressing cases in line with our published enforcement guidelines
KPIs:
- Number of enforcement cases opened in the period (date opened)
- Number of enforcement cases closed in the period (date closed)
- Total number of compliance monitoring programmes underway resulting from enforcement action
- Details of all enforcement action conclusions and outcomes published on Ofwat website since April 2023 (e.g. case webpage)
4. Customer Focus
Goal: Hold companies to account for providing a good service and support to customers and consider the diversity of customer needs. This includes focusing on improvements for the worst-served customers
KPIs:
- Vulnerable customers: Increase the number of companies with published vulnerability strategies on their websites over 2025-26
- Sewage in homes: Use powers under licence condition G to assess the support provided to household customers who experience sewer flooding in their homes and publish the findings (winter 2025)
- Billing: Publish the findings from research with customers who have experienced billing issues (autumn 2025). Set out expectations for improvements and communicate these to 100% of water companies (winter 2025)
5. Innovation
Goal: Drive innovation and productivity within the water sector, through delivery of our innovation fund, which we are doubling in size to £400m
KPIs:
- Launch Round 5 winners – May 2025
- Open Round 6 of Water Breakthrough Challenge 8 September 2025
- Confirm details/opening dates for new collaborative challenge, cross sector programme and implementation fund by end October 2025
- Open Round 2 of the Water Discovery Challenge in January 2026
- Open new collaborative challenge, cross sector programme and implementation fund streams by Spring 2026
6. Business Retail
Goal: Support business retail market with prompt approval of increasingly complex applications
KPIs:
- For a standard WSSL we aim to make a decision within 60 working days of the application being confirmed complete
- For a ‘self-supply’ WSSL we aim to make a decision within 45 days of the application being confirmed complete
7. NAVs
Goal: Support growth in the NAV market with prompt approval for an increasing number of applications
KPIs:
- Process applications within 85 working days of the application being confirmed complete (including the statutory 28 calendar day consultation period)
- Cumulative number of NAV applications granted
- Average working days to process applications
These are not the only measures of performance, for example we will continue to track performance of the sector through our annual Water Company Performance Reports.