Meeting of the Parliament 19 March 2026 [Draft]
I confirm that Scottish Water is performing well as a publicly owned corporation, with all profits going back into improving the service instead of going to shareholders. It matches the level of service that is provided by companies in England and Wales. Although performance is not always calculated in the same way across the nations, we can take pride in the fact that customer satisfaction with Scottish Water is consistently among the highest in the UK utilities sector. Indeed, Scottish Water was the top-rated water company in the UK customer satisfaction index last year. Performance levels are being achieved by ensuring that the average household charge in Scotland remains lower than the average charge in England and Wales.
We are not complacent, though. There is a lot more to do, and I am pleased to say that every penny of profit from Scottish Water goes back into making those improvements.