On 21 July 2025, Sir Jon Cunliffe’s Independent Water Commission published an exhaustive 460-page report outlining 88 recommendations to overhaul water regulation, planning, environmental accountability, and investment mechanisms across England and Wales.

Key Themes You Shouldn’t Miss:

Utility-Scale Regulation Reform

A new ‘super-regulator’ will replace Ofwat, the Drinking Water Inspectorate, Environment Agency water functions and Natural England roles in England, with economic duties migrating to Natural Resources Wales in Wales.

Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) Uniformity

The CMA would assume cross-sector responsibility for setting WACC, ensuring harmonised cost-of-capital assessments across water, energy and telecoms.

Regional Systems Planning & Catchment Integration

England sees eight new regional water planning authorities, while Wales gets one national body. These authorities integrate local councils, environment, agriculture and health stakeholders for systems-based planning.

Smart Metering & Water Reuse Policy

Mandatory smart metering and frameworks to accelerate household and non-household water reuse systems are spotlighted – shining a light on per capita consumption reduction strategies.

SuDS Becomes Mandatory in Development

Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) are recommended as a required standard in all new developments in England, critical for reducing surface water burden on sewers.

Leakage: A Missed Opportunity

Despite pressure on infrastructure, the report lacks strong action on leakage reduction, even though the sector loses billions of litres daily through aging networks.

R&D & Innovation Gap

The water sector’s R&D spend (£33M in 2023) lags far behind similar sectors. The report criticises risk aversion, short‑termism and the low effective uptake of nature-based solutions and digital monitoring pilots.

How Groundbreaker Systems Connects to These Developments

We deliver engineering-led solutions built to align directly with several of the Report’s bold directions:

• Smart Metering & Flow Management: Our NRv2® LoFlo® and Inline LoFlo® products support smart metering infrastructure and reduce consumption by up to 12%, enabling clear alignment with mandated efficiency and digital monitoring goals.
• Enhanced Leak Mitigation: Our surface-mounted Groundbreaker eliminates traditional below-ground boundary boxes and reduces jointed PE pipe work, directly addressing leakage and simplifying maintenance in smart meter deployments.
• Regulatory & Environmental Compliance: WRAS-approved and consistent with Water UK and Waterwise industry standards, our solutions help developers and water companies satisfy future regulatory conditions related to consumer protection, installation best practices and environmental reliability

Final Thought

The Cunliffe Report sets the stage for a transformative ‘reset’ of the UK water sector. At Groundbreaker Systems, our sustainable engineering solutions are already in place to support smarter metering, reduce leakage, mitigate flow and future‑proof networks, embodying the operationalisation of many high‑impact recommendations.

Get in touch to find out more.