At South West Water we recognise how important it is for all our customers and stakeholders to have trust and confidence in the information we report, on the services we provide and how we provide them.

Ofwat, the economic regulator for the water and sewerage industry in England and Wales introduced the Company Monitoring Framework (CMF) assessment in 2015 to encourage companies to deliver high quality assurance of the information that they produce. An assessment was carried out each year by Ofwat to ensure that companies were communicating in a clear, accessible and transparent way and that the information gave a fair view of how a company is performing.

Companies were then put into one of three categories depending on how they scored: self-assurance, targeted or prescribed. In the last assessment, in January 2019, we were categorised as targeted. As a targeted assurance company, we were required to undertake a 'Risks, Strengths and Weaknesses' exercise and publish an Assurance Plan.

In August 2019 Ofwat issued an information notice informing companies that they would not be publishing further CMF assessments but would continue to scrutinise and challenge companies' approaches to data quality and assurance of their performance reporting. We believe that undertaking engagement for the Risks, Strengths and Weaknesses Statement and Assurance Plan is a worthwhile exercise, as it ensures that we are meeting our customers' needs with regards to the information we provide to them. We will therefore continue to publish these documents going forward.