Utility Regulator - NI Water - Formal commitment
| Year | 2011 |
| Published date | 08 July 2011 |
| Energy Sector | Water |
From the Chairman
_____________________________________________________________________________
Queens House, 14 Queen Street, BELFAST, BT1 6ED
T: +44 (0) 28 9031 1575 F: +44 (0) 28 9031 1740 W: www.uregni .gov.uk
Sean T Hogan
Chairman
Northern Ireland Water
Old Westland Road Ref: W083/1014-02/665
BELFAST
BT14 6TE 21 June 2011
Dear Sean
Putting consumers first – response to the 2010/2011 freeze/thaw incident
The disruption caused by the freeze/thaw incident of December 2010–January 2011
was significant. Although the incident itself was unavoidable, its adverse impact on
consumers was greater than it should have been as a result of poor information
flows and inadequate consumer communications by Northern Ireland Water. The
service provided to consumers by the company was ineffectual in a number of
respects.
The Utility Regulator’s report following its investigation into the incident (“the Report”)
stated that, while the water mains in Northern Ireland are relatively new compared
with those in other parts of the United Kingdom and performed as well as could be
expected:
Northern Ireland Water was not prepared for a crisis of the magnitude of the
freeze/thaw incident;
in particular there was a failure of the company’s executive leadership;
the company’s emergency planning and execution were deficient, particularly
in respect of its communication with consumers; and
that whilst the technical and operational response to the problem was on the
whole acceptable, the incident revealed a culture in the company which was
not focused enough on customers.
The Report incorporates a Recovery Action Plan which is designed to ensure that
relevant lessons are learned and that, as far as possible, similar problems to those
experienced by consumers during the freeze/thaw incident can be avoided in the
future. Northern Ireland Water is required to take the lead role in implementing the
core of the Recovery Action Plan and instigating a change in culture to become more
responsive to consumer needs.
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