Our role
WICS is Scotland's independent economic regulator for the water industry. We work on behalf of current and future customers to help ensure water and wastewater services remain affordable, resilient and deliver long-term value.
Water is something we all rely on every day. It supports our homes, businesses, communities, public services and the environment.
Water and wastewater services depend on a huge amount of infrastructure across Scotland, from reservoirs and treatment works to thousands of miles of pipes. Keeping that infrastructure working, and investing in it for the future, requires long-term planning and careful decisions about how money is spent.
Economic regulation helps make sure those decisions are taken in customers' interests, balancing the need to keep bills affordable today while investing in services that will continue to meet Scotland's needs in the future. This is the role WICS plays on behalf of current and future customers.
Who we work with
Delivering high-quality water and wastewater services depends on many organisations with different responsibilities working well together.
Customers help shape priorities and ultimately fund the system through the charges they pay. The Scottish Government sets the policy framework and long-term ambitions for the water sector. Scottish Water plans, invests in and delivers water and wastewater services across Scotland. The quality regulators, including SEPA and the Drinking Water Quality Regulator (DWQR), protect the environment and ensure drinking water meets the standards customers expect.
We work with organisations across Scotland's water industry because delivering value for customers depends on effective collaboration and clear accountability. While each organisation has a distinct role, customers experience one water industry and rightly expect those organisations to work together in the public interest.
WICS sits at the centre of this system as the independent economic regulator. We bring together the evidence, analysis and challenge to help organisations understand the trade-offs among investment, affordability, resilience, and performance. By doing this, we make sure customers have confidence that their money is being used wisely, that Scottish Water is held to account, and that decisions made today support reliable, affordable and resilient services for the future.
Who we work with |
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We work collaboratively with a wide range of organisations to support our role as Scotland’s independent economic regulator and deliver the best outcomes for customers, communities and the environment. |
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WICS (Independent economic regulator) |
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Scottish Government Role: Sets the policy and legislative framework for Scotland’s water industry including strategic objectives for investment and charging. How we work together: We provide independent evidence, analysis and advice to support policy development and decision-making. |
Scottish Water Role: Operates Scotland’s public water and wastewater network, including treatment works, reservoirs, pipes and sewers. It also provides wholesale services to the retail market. How we work together: WICS scrutinises Scottish Water’s plans, monitors performance, challenges delivery and determines the maximum charges customers should pay. |
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Retail Market (Retailers and CMA) Role: Retailers provide billing, customer service and water efficiency support to non-household customers. The Central Markets Agency (CMA) operates the systems that support customer registration, market settlement and switching. How we work together: We regulate the market framework, grant licences to retailers and work closely with the CMA to support effective market operation and governance. |
Quality regulators (SEPA & DWQR) Role: SEPA protects Scotland’s water environment and monitors environmental performance. DWQR regulates drinking water quality and supports the protection of public health. How we work together: We work closely together to understand regulatory requirements and ensure Scottish Water’s investment plans support environmental and drinking water quality outcomes. |
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Customers and Consumer Voice (Customers, communities and Consumer Scotland) Role: Customers and communities use and pay for water and wastewater services. Consumer Scotland represents consumer interests and priorities. How we work together: We use customer insight, engagement and evidence to ensure customer priorities are at the heart of regulatory decisions. |
Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) Role: Provides an independent route for complaints that have not been resolved by Scottish Water or licensed water retailers. How we work together: We use complaint insights and sector learning to identify opportunities for service improvement and better customer outcomes. |
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Working together for better outcomes Strong relationships and open dialogue help us challenge effectively, make better decisions and deliver lasting value for Scotland's customers, communities and the environment. |
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Introduction
We are pleased to present our draft Corporate Plan for 2027-33 and invite customers, businesses and stakeholders to help shape how we deliver value over the next six years.
The role of economic regulation
Scottish Water's services are essential to every household, business and community in Scotland. They support our health, our economy and our quality of life. Most of the time, they operate as a silent service, but behind the scenes they rely on long-term planning, major investment and careful decisions about what customers should pay.
WICS is Scotland's independent economic regulator for the water industry. We work on behalf of current and future customers by challenging Scottish Water’s plans, setting the maximum charges customers should pay, and holding the company to account for delivering value.
The value we deliver for customers
Our work ensures that customers pay no more than necessary for reliable water and wastewater services. Since Scottish Water was created, our independent economic regulation has kept average household bills around £120 lower than they would otherwise have been, while enabling significant investment and improvements in performance.
However, the challenges facing Scotland's water industry are becoming more complex. Maintaining high-quality services, renewing ageing infrastructure, protecting and improving the environment, responding to climate change, supporting economic growth and maintaining affordability all need to be balanced. These are not easy choices, and they involve difficult trade-offs.
Over the next regulatory period, the role of economic regulation will become even more important. Scottish Water is preparing to deliver almost £8 billion of investment between 2027 and 2033. Customers need confidence that this investment is necessary, efficient and capable of delivering the improvements they are being asked to fund.
We provide that independent scrutiny. We test whether costs are efficient, whether charges are justified, whether performance commitments are being delivered and whether decisions taken today protect the value and resilience of Scotland’s water services for the future.
Our focus for 2027-33
Our work has helped transform Scotland's water industry, supporting major investment, improved performance and some of the lowest water charges in Great Britain. Our focus now is on delivering value in the areas where we can make the biggest difference for customers.
Areas of focus |
What this means for customers |
| Ensuring customers pay no more than necessary | We will set charges using robust evidence, challenge costs and protect customers from paying in advance for costs that are uncertain or not yet justified. |
| Holding Scottish Water to account | We will monitor investment, performance and delivery so customers can see whether Scottish Water is delivering what it promised. |
| Improving the non-household retail market | We will support a fair, transparent and effective market for businesses, charities and public sector organisations. |
| Running WICS efficiently | We will apply the same value-for-money discipline to ourselves that we expect from Scottish Water and make clear our levy funding delivers value. |
Maximising the use of our resources
Every pound spent running WICS is funded through the organisations we regulate and ultimately paid for by customers. We therefore have a responsibility to demonstrate the same commitment to efficiency and value for money that we expect from those we regulate.
Over 2021–27, we expect to spend £21.3m, £3.6m less than originally planned, delivered through organisational efficiencies, smarter ways of working and careful use of resources. Looking ahead, our indicative budget for 2027–33 is £29.06m. This will enable us to deliver more for customers and reflects a sustainable staffing model, moderate pay increases and higher costs. In real terms, this is a relatively small increase given the significant rise in costs over recent years. At around 33p for every £100 Scottish Water plans to invest, it funds independent scrutiny that helps ensure customers receive value for money. We will continue to look for opportunities to improve how we work through collaboration, innovation, digital transformation and wider public service reform.
Developing our people and culture
The quality of our regulation depends on the knowledge, judgement and expertise of our people. We will continue to invest in attracting, developing and retaining the skills needed to regulate an increasingly complex water sector and provide trusted, independent challenge on behalf of customers.
Making greater use of technology and data
Technology and data are essential to effective regulation. By improving data quality, integrating systems and reducing manual processes, we will help our people spend more time on high-value regulatory work and make better-informed decisions.
We are moving into 2027-33 in a stronger position to deliver as an exemplar public body and forward-thinking economic regulator. We aim to continue improving how we work so that customers and stakeholders can be confident in the value delivered through independent economic regulation.
Help shape our Corporate Plan
We welcome your views on whether these are the right priorities for 2027–33 and whether we are focusing on the areas that matter most to customers.