Who we are
The Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS) is the independent economic regulator for water and wastewater services in Scotland. We protect customers by making sure Scottish Water delivers the services people rely on every day at the lowest reasonable cost, and that customers pay no more than is necessary — now and in the future.
We do this by setting stretching performance targets and capping how much Scottish Water can charge. This helps keep bills fair by ensuring customers pay only for the investment necessary to deliver safe, reliable and improving services.
What is the Strategic Review of Charges?
The Strategic Review of Charges is the process that sets water and wastewater charges in Scotland every six years. As part of each review, WICS asks Scottish Water to produce a detailed business plan for the next regulatory period, setting out what it plans to deliver and how much it expects to spend.
During the review process, Scottish Water carries out extensive, meaningful engagement with customers on its plans. This includes close engagement with environmental and water quality regulators to ensure the plan enables Scottish Water to meet legal requirements.
We protect customers by making sure Sottish Water delivers the services people rely on every day.
Where we are now?
Scottish Water provides services that people rely on every day: clean water flowing from taps, treating wastewater, and protecting rivers and coasts. This is becoming more challenging. Infrastructure requires regular maintenance while climate change is increasing the risk of flooding, pollution and disruption.
The main challenges include:
- Infrastructure and resilience – Much of Scotland’s water and wastewater network was built decades ago and now needs to be replaced or upgraded
- Climate change – More frequent extreme weather increases the risk of flooding, pollution and service disruption
- Cost pressures – Scottish Water has to manage cost pressures such as additional energy costs in the same way as other companies
- Population change – Changing patterns of where people live and work place new demands on existing systems
Addressing these challenges means investing more in Scotland’s water system and an increase in customer charges. No one welcomes higher bills. That is why our role as Scotland’s independent economic regulator is to make sure any increase is clearly justified and delivers real benefits for customers.
How this compares to others
We make sure customers pay no more than is necessary. Water bills have remained lower and more stable than other household costs such as energy and train fares. Our approach is to continue keeping bills fair and stable for customers throughout 2027-33.
How household costs have changed between 2006 and 2026
Household cost |
Change in inflation adjusted cost 2006-2026 |
|---|---|
| Electricity | +74.2% |
| Gas | +45.3% |
| Train fares | +26.6% |
| Scottish Water bill | -0.2% |
|
How we got here?
Since 2002, Scottish Water has invested heavily in Scotland’s water and wastewater services. Economic regulation in Scotland has delivered average household bills that are around £120 lower than would otherwise be the case without the efficiencies that we have required. Scottish customers pay some of the lowest water bills in the UK, and because Scottish Water is publicly owned, every pound collected is reinvested in the system.
Over time, bills in Scotland have remained broadly stable compared with elsewhere in Great Britain, while levels of investment have increased and service performance has improved.
In our last review of charges six years ago, we recognised that higher investment would be needed. We therefore set a steady, long-term path for charges to rise gradually avoiding sharp increases in bills. We are entering the next phase of investment from a stronger starting point.