Reputation. Concept of cutout words related with business.

This research aimed to measure stakeholders’ views about CCWater and covered a wide range of topics including our performance, effectiveness, communications and research.

It explored whether CCWater’s priorities align with those of our stakeholders and how we could influence them to deliver positive outcomes for water consumers.

The research involved key stakeholders from government, regulatory bodies and consumer groups.

The key findings include:

  • Stakeholders strongly support CCWater’s continuance as a water industry specific consumer body.
  • Three-quarters of stakeholders gave us a high satisfaction rating and feel our performance has either improved or stayed the same.
  • CCWater’s staff are respected at both a local and national level and stakeholders have praised them for their efforts, especially during the 2014 Price Review period.
  • Stakeholders feel that CCWater needs to develop a more authoritative voice to influence water companies and policymakers, and want us to raise our profile in our wider advocacy role.
  • Some stakeholders felt that CCWater strays into areas beyond our remit and they want us to work more collaboratively with the water industry.

We have carefully considered stakeholders’ views and will adapt the way we approach some of our day-to-day activities to improve how we work on behalf of water consumers.

We are working to strengthen our relationship with our stakeholders and promote collaborative working. As a first step we organised a series of workshops in September and October 2015 to give stakeholders in each of our regions and in Wales an opportunity to discuss with us emerging water sector issues which may impact on consumers over the next three years, and beyond. This thinking will feed into the development of our Forward Work Programme for 2016-19.

We will address the challenge from stakeholders to increase our profile as a consumer advocate and will increasing the priority of our ‘Speaking up for Consumers’ work stream.

We will look at where we can work collaboratively with other stakeholders in our research and policy work, and where we can add value through interpretation and ‘think pieces’.

We will also better communicate to stakeholders our reasons for continuing to be involved in particular areas of work, such as debt and affordability which continues to be an issue for many water customers.

We are confident stakeholders will start to see positive changes in the way CCWater works on behalf of water consumers. We are committed to undertaking more frequent stakeholder research and engagement in the future.

Download Consumer Council for Water: Stakeholder Perceptions Research (pdf – 2 MB)