Monitoring and Enforcement cont.

·It is essential that the regulators
-Are given powers of access to all relevant information
-Have enforcement powers to require the responsible local authority to make the necessary improvements in quality or service
-Are wholly independent of the part of local government responsible for the service and as independent, as possible, from central government
-Have freedom to report fully and freedom of access to the media

Independent Reporting

·Responsibility of the regulators
·The most important key to success is transparency, so all regulatory documents need to be publicly available
·Full reporting on all aspects of utility programmes and performance including
-Required quality and service targets
Water quality and service monitoring results
-Incidents and management of emergencies
-Comparisons between water service units – this is part of the important benchmarking which is a key driver to improved performance

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An integrated planning process

·How should forward programmes be established and how should water service charges be determined?
·A need for an integrated planning process which determines
-Quality improvements for next period
-Other consumer service targets for period
-Management efficiency targets for period
-Level of investment for period including that required on refurbishment of assets
-Water service charges for period

The Planning Process cont

·Who needs to be involved?
-Government to set objectives
-Consumers with an input on their needs and on their ability and willingness to pay
-A regulatory body to manage the process and other regulators to specify quality requirements
-Water service providers to produce the delivery business plans and provide cost estimates

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Comparative Performance

·Performance Measures and Benchmarking
-Part of important transparency
Has been shown (eg in the UK, the -Netherlands, Chile and elsewhere) to give great stimulus to improved performance
-No local authority or water service provider likes to be bottom of the ‘football’ league
·Establishing an effective set of performance indicators requires careful thought
-They need to stimulate the required actions
-They need to minimise data requirements and thus cost
·A measure on non-revenue water is essential

Licensing and Contracts

·Licences, whether public or private, should be for specified periods of time with renewal depending on performance
·Licence here is used in a generic form and includes
-A licence as specified in, for example, UK law
-A PPP contract
-An internal municipal contract
-Management performance contract
·Essential that poor performers are removed

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Summary

·World Water Day is an important annual event and should be used to promote water issues in individual countries and internationally
·Success in achieving efficient and sustainable water services around the world has been achieved through attention to some key elements of governance, regulation and management
·China has the opportunity of learning from this good experience

 

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