Scottish Water tell us what an excellent service they provide

The following is a press release from Scottish Water




Record year for delivering benefits for our customers

Scottish Water’s annual report 2008/09

Scottish Water is reporting a record year of delivering benefits for our customers as we continue to serve Scotland and deliver the improvements needed in the water industry.

In 2008/09 Scottish Water delivered £687 million of capital investment, one of the biggest investment programmes in the UK, reduced leakage by 122 million litres a day and made major improvements to customer service.

This has resulted in the benefits of clearer, fresher drinking water for more than a million people, a greener environment and further progress in our aim to provide one of the best value services to our customers.

The average charge to household customers is £324 for water and waste water services – lower than seven of the companies south of the border.

Richard Ackroyd, chief executive of Scottish Water, said: “This was my first full year at the helm of the fastest improving water company in the UK. I am pleased to be able to report even more progress. There is still much work to be done. I want Scottish Water to be an industry leader, providing the best service to all our customers across Scotland.

“I am pleased to report that we have outperformed all of our key targets. These include leakage; customer service as measured by OPA; and delivery of capital investment outputs. We have also provided more strategic water and waste water capacity to ensure development and growth.

“I want to pay tribute to everyone who works at Scottish Water and who have played such an important part in our achievements so far. There are many challenges ahead, not least the economic situation and climate change and we cannot afford to be complacent. We are building a business which Scotland can be proud of.”

Ronnie Mercer, chair of Scottish Water said: “We are a high performing business with a high performing management and staff who are beating the challenging targets set by the independent economic regulator while delivering the investment that Scotland needs.

“Scottish Water is a business with a billion pound turnover, employing a core 3, 600 staff and supporting more than 5,000 through the investment programme. We are one of Scotland’s biggest businesses and providing a vital service which also supports the economy of Scotland.”


Highlights of 2008/09

Highest level of customer satisfaction. Our Customer Overall Performance Assessment has improved by 53% in the period 2006-2009. In 2008/09 we outperformed our target by 13%.
Scottish Water is the fastest improving water utility in the UK.
On average, over the year, leakage has been reduced by 122 million litres of water a day.
In 2008/09 our overall satisfaction figure of 80% represents an all time high in customers’ satisfaction.
Record investment across Scotland is helping improve the quality of life for communities.
In 2008/09 1.5 million of our customers are enjoying clearer, fresher drinking water straight from their taps.
On average each Scottish household pays £324 a year for water and waste water services, still less than £1 a day.


The benefits to customers

The key successes in 2008/09 can be attributed to improvements in a wide range of the 12 OPA (overall performance assessment) Indicators agreed with our regulators. These include:

We have improved the pressure to 2900 more properties. Less than 0.11% of all properties in Scotland are now affected by low pressure.
We have reduced leakage by 122 million litres per day beating the target agreed with our regulator.
We have removed the risk of internal flooding to 180 properties by putting in place permanent solutions.
100% of all written complaints are now replied to within 10 days.
We have made an improvement in answering calls within 30 seconds to 97.41%.
We continue to experience no hosepipe restrictions by maintaining water supplies at all times.
We have scored maximum points for sludge disposal by ensuring that all our sludge is treated according to regulations.
Water Quality performance has been maintained at the highest quality it has ever been in Scotland with 99.81% compliance with stringent regulatory standards.


For a copy of the annual report please go to HYPERLINK "http://www.scottishwater.co.uk" www.scottishwater.co.uk