Arup welcomes interim findings of review into the UK water sector

The water sector in England and Wales is under unprecedented challenges including climate change, ageing assets and low public trust. This has led to widespread calls for reform of the water sector.

In response, the UK Government established the IWC in October 2024 to develop recommendations for reforms to the water sector. In February 2025, the Commission published a wide-ranging call for evidence that received more than 50,000 responses and published interim findings on 3 June.  
 
Arup's submission to the IWC’s Cunliffe Review call for evidence, outlines ten key recommendations designed to steer the sector towards better outcomes for both society and the environment. We sought insights from our water experts in the UK and globally, including our Young Water Professionals Network, to develop these recommendations.

Our 10 key actions 

To develop a clear vision for the future we need: 

• To collectively develop a national vision that sets the long-term direction and outcomes for the sector 
• Integrated catchment plans that address the pressures impacting river health, and we need to empower local actors to deliver these plans
• Policy decisions to be holistic, well understood and assessed, whilst recognising critical trade-offs between the water environment, carbon, affordability and growth. 

To strengthen alignment within and across sectors we need: 

• To align regulation with key outcomes and reduce undue burden
• To collaborate with other systems like energy, housing, agriculture, and industry and understand how these systems depend on each other and how water contributes to economic growth
• Improved collection, governance and transparency of data to enhance decision making, innovation and trust 
• A common framework for asset health to support decision-making and transparency. 

To make better decisions and improve implementation we need: 

• A more flexible regulatory regime to enable innovation and agility
• To enable the adoption of nature-based solutions 
• To ensure we can deliver record levels of investment.