Documents released to campaign groups show that water companies had a role in advising how new customer accountability arrangements should be implemented, prompting critics to say the process risks undermining the reforms.
The Consumer Council for Water (CCW) is establishing what the government has described as "powerful consumer panels" intended to give household customers and local communities the ability to question the executives of their local water company and pursue redress for problems arising from water and sewage services across England and Wales.
Campaigners said the involvement of utilities in shaping the panels amounted to a "stitch‑up", arguing that allowing the sector to influence how it will be held to account weakens the independence and appetite of the new arrangements to challenge companies. The documents reportedly set out ways in which companies were consulted on implementation details.
Supporters of the changes say the panels are designed to give customers a direct route to raise concerns with executives and to strengthen local scrutiny of water firms. Critics counter that any input from the companies themselves should be strictly limited to avoid conflicts of interest and to preserve public confidence in oversight mechanisms.
The measures cover customers of sewage and water companies operating in England and Wales. Campaigners have urged clarity on how the panels will be constituted and how independence from the industry will be guaranteed, saying the credibility of the reforms depends on transparent rules for how the panels are formed and how their questions and findings will be acted on.