Water regulator Ofwat has issued final guidance on the appeals process concerning the upcoming transfer of private sewers, lateral drains and pumping stations in England and Wales.

Ofwat consulted on the proposed guidance from 15 June to 13 July 2011. The guidance sets out how to submit an appeal and how Ofwat will handle such appeals, including:

• who can appeal;
• the grounds for – and subject of – an appeal;
• how to appeal;
• the issues that we will have regard to when considering appeals, including
• allegations of serious detriment as a result of the transfer;
• the appeal process; and
• the potential outcomes of appeals.

Ofwat has emphasised that the appeal process is not an opportunity for making further representations about the Government’s policy decision for the transfer. The regulator will only consider appeals about specific lateral drains, private sewers or pumping stations.

The guidance also points out that the sewerage companies will incur increased costs as a result of the transfer and the associated responsibility for the additional network of sewers and lateral drains. Ofwat has yet again flagged up the possibility of requests to raise prices to customers as a result of the increased costs. However, the regulator says that unwillingness to pay increased sewerage charges will not be considered as grounds for appeal against the transfer.

Under the legislation, customers can appeal if they:

• own a sewer or lateral drain; or
• are affected by the proposal of, or failure to propose, transfer of a sewer or lateral drain.

The sewerage companies were required to serve notice of the proposal to transfer the sewers or lateral drains on the owners of those sewers or drains and publish notice of their proposal, at least two months before the 1 October 2011 transfer date i.e. by 1 August 2011. The companies started to serve individual notices on or after 1 July 2011, and published notices in the London Gazette and regional papers at the end of July.

The legislation stipulates that appeal against a sewerage company’s proposal to transfer a particular sewer or lateral drain, must be made within two months from the date notice is received from the sewerage company. This is an absolute time limit which means that Ofwat will not deal with any appeals submitted after the end of the two month period.

Click here to read the guidance in full.