“The assurances we’ve sought about our members’ jobs and terms and conditions are reasonable, and ministers need to provide them.”
From the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS)
Last year, the Independent Water Commission recommended that Ofwat be abolished, and its functions brought together with parts of DEFRA, Natural England and the Environment Agency in a new-super regulator for the water industry.
PCS wrote to ministers seeking constructive engagement, but their failure to meaningfully engage or even meet with PCS has led to a trade dispute in Ofwat.
Our members in Ofwat and all the other organisations in scope for the new super-regulator for the water industry need real assurances about their jobs and terms and conditions.
The PCS members who work for Ofwat are aware of the shortfalls in the water sector and do not want another regulator that is weak by design and unable to control the private companies that dominate the industry. They want to work in a water sector that can actually deliver.
Without a clear, positive sense of direction, PCS fears that Ofwat will find it harder than ever to retain and recruit the staff needed to hold failing companies to account.
We have therefore had no alternative but to lodge a formal trade dispute with Ofwat. This means that we can ballot our members for industrial action if we believe it’s necessary.
PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “If the government isn’t going to grasp the nettle and bring the water sector into public ownership, then it needs to create a new regulator that will be able to serve the working people by effectively controlling the water profiteers.
“We stand ready to work with the government on doing that, and we don’t want the new organisation to be created in the midst of a trade dispute. The assurances we’ve sought about our members’ jobs and terms and conditions are reasonable, and ministers need to provide them.”
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- This was originally published on the PCS website on 20 January 2026.
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