Ofwat announces combined gated process for Major Water Infrastructure Programme

Ofwat has announced the launch of a combined gated process to oversee, support and assess the delivery of large-scale water infrastructure projects for the Major Water Infrastructure Programme (MWIP).

The Regulator’s Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development (RAPID) and partner regulators—the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) and the Environment Agency (EA)—along with Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and Natural England (NE) provide involvement in the combined gated process.

The MWIP comprises the 30 large-scale projects set out at PR24. The new combined gated process consolidates RAPID's oversight of early project development with Ofwat's Major Projects team's regulation of later-stage delivery.

Ofwat stated: "RAPID and Ofwat’s Major Projects team continue to carry out their regulatory roles, now operating using this single, combined process that reduces duplication and helps critical infrastructure progress at pace while protecting customers and the environment."

Ofwat has published two documents detailing operation of the single combined process: the Major Projects Programme: Overview of the combined gated process and the Major Water Infrastructure Programme: Optioneering and pipeline management and gate A.

The Overview sets out the overarching framework and principles for the combined gated process used by the relevant regulators to oversee, support and assess project delivery by companies. The included projects are RAPID Strategic Resource Options and/or projects meeting criteria for delivery by competitively tendered models, i.e., those using Direct Procurement for Customers (DPC) or Specified Infrastructure Project Regulations (SIPR) procurement.

It outlines the rationale behind the process, the full project lifecycle, and its relationship to other processes such as Water Resource Management Plans (WRMP), planning and development costs.

Ofwat said: "We have combined the precious RAPID gates and the Ofwat stages to present a clearer, more transparent process to water companies and stakeholders with defined decision points. This updated process seeks to retain good practice and ways of working that have been established whist making improvements and alignments where possible, without losing the oversight and discipline required to ensure feasibility and delivery of such large, complex, and essential infrastructure projects."

Benefits of a combined process

• Simplify the existing process and make it easier for companies to navigate the required gates;
• Provide greater clarity on the decisions being made at each gate, and the activity/output required during the stage leading up to them;
• Align working practices to bring consistency in approach, streamline action, and enhance cross-regulator alignment to improve monitoring and assessment;
• Facilitate future guidance development by integrating learning, best practice, and improved ways of working.

The Overview introduces a new timeline for new project submissions. Ofwat will decide whether a project should be added to the RAPID gated process and will determine funding at the appropriate stage, taking RAPID's recommendations into account.

The aim is to ensure strategic water resource projects progress rapidly and make efficient use of development funding. The Overview notes RAPID's flexibility in assessment timing and decisions to maintain acceleration and efficiency, including examples such as Ofwat making decisions outside gate assessment windows to address showstoppers that emerge pre-submission or to drop options with financial impacts on gate allowances. Proposals will be considered by RAPID on a case-by-case basis.

The Optioneering and Pipeline Management document details the first stage of MWIP guidance leading to Gate A assessment. It defines the activities expected during Gate A, the gate assessment itself, and associated monitoring.

Documents to download (names): Major Projects Programme: Overview of the combined gated process and Major Water Infrastructure Programme: Optioneering and pipeline management and gate A.