The Water Supply and Sewerage Services (Customer Service Standards) (Amendment) Regulations 1989

Made: 3rd August 1989

Laid before Parliament: 11th August 1989

Coming into force: 1st September 1989

The Secretary of State for Wales, in relation to water and sewerage undertakers appointed by him, or with his consent or in accordance with a general authorisation given by him and the Secretary of State for the Environment, in relation to other water undertakers and sewerage undertakers, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by sections 38(2) and (3) and 68(2) and (3) of the Water Act 1989[^f00001] and acting prior to any transfer date appointed under section 4 of that Act hereby make the following Regulations:

Citation and commencement

1

These Regulations may be cited as the Water Supply and Sewerage Services (Customer Service Standards) (Amendment) Regulations 1989 and shall come into force on 1st September 1989.

Amendment of Regulations

2

The Water Supply and Sewerage Services (Customer Service Standards) Regulations 1989[^f00002] are amended–

• (1) in regulation 3(1), by the insertion after the words “being a visit” of the words “in connection with the provision of supplies of water, or as the case may be, of sewerage services”;

• (2) in regulation 4, by the substitution for paragraph (3)(b) of the following sub-paragraph–

(b) in the case of a query, that severe weather conditions made it impracticable to make a visit reasonably required, in the undertaker’s opinion, for the purpose of replying; or

• (3) in regulation 5–

• (a) in paragraph (2)(a), by the substitution for the words “necessitates a visit” of the words “reasonably requires a visit”;

• (b) by the insertion after paragraph (2)(b) of the following sub-paragraph–

(c) in the case of a complaint in relation to which sub-paragraph (a) applies, to despatch a substantive reply to the customer within 20 working days from the date of the receipt of the complaint.

; and

• (c) by the insertion in paragraph (3)(e) after the word “complaint” of the following words–

• ; or that severe weather conditions made it impracticable to make a visit reasonably required, in the undertaker’s opinion, for the purpose of replying as mentioned in paragraph (2)(c)

; and

• (4) in regulation 7–

• (a) in paragraph (3), by the insertion after the words “that customer” of the words “(or credit to his account)”; and

• (b) in paragraph (4)(iii), by the insertion after the words “supply was” of the words “interrupted or”.

Signed

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State

Ian Grist — Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Welsh Office — 3rd August 1989

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State

Colin Moynihan — Parliamentary Under Secretary of State — Department of the Environment — 2nd August 1989

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Water Supply and Sewerage Services (Customer Service Standards) Regulations 1989.

The two principal changes are to regulation 5. A new paragraph (2)(c) entitles a customer to claim £5 where a water undertaker or a sewerage undertaker fails to despatch a substantive reply within 20 working days of receipt of a complaint about water or sewerage services in circumstances in which investigation of the complaint requires a visit by the undertaker to the customer’s premises. A new paragraph (2)(f) provides an exemption where severe weather conditions make it impracticable to make the visit in time to comply.

The Regulations also make a number of minor drafting amendments.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 1989 c. 15.

[^f00002]: S.I. 1989/1159.