Water industry on target for Millennium

Ofwat has assessed the water industry’s readiness to deal with the Millennium Bug as ‘amber’ on the Action 2000’s ‘traffic lights’ measuring scale. All the water companies in England and Wales are making progress towards ‘blue.’

“This means that work is well under way in the water industry in England and Wales,” said Mr Dunshea. “It is moving towards the position where all the companies can satisfy the regulator that there will be no material

disrupters to services for customers.”

This news was welcomed by Margaret Beckett, the cabinet minister responsible for co-ordinating Government action against the Millennium Bug. Speaking at the National Infrastructure Forum conference, Mrs Beckett highlighted the importance of independent assessment and disclosure of information in achieving compliance. “The major services are submitting themselves to independent assessment – sometimes involving peer review from competitors – to be able to show the public they are well prepared as they can be.”

Ofwat will carry out a further independent survey during March and April on companies’ progress on securing continuity of services into the Millennium with a final survey of readiness being conducted by August.