Interim Consultant - Charging Economist / Regulatory Manager

At present, there are two senior associates working on charging for new connections, with the work being overseen by the Project Manager, Charging Policy.

We have a need for a competent, experienced economist / regulatory manager to aid in the development of charging for new connections proposals. This will culminate in the development of charging proposals for informal consultation at the end of March.

The job holder will help us fulfill our duties and deliver our strategy – ‘Trust in Water’. The purpose of this job is to:

• aid the development of charging proposals – this will involve consideration of a range of factors, such as legislative requirements, government guidance, stakeholders’ views (notably, developers and water companies) and a wide range of evidence

• lead on drafting internal documents (such as notes and presentations) and a significant part of the informal consultation at the end of March

• engaging and presenting to Ofwat managers and external parties as required.

Key responsibilities within the programme

i. Developing charging proposals

The interim consultant will have a role in identifying key areas of work and considering how to take it forward. Two charges that the interim consultant may lead on are a) requisition charges and b) asset payments. This could involve -

• reviewing current methods and practices for calculating requisition charge and asset payments

• identifying different approaches across companies

• reviewing the DAD method, problems with the method and potential solutions

• considering the current arrangements in sewerage and whether these should be aligned with the arrangements in water

• developing policy options

• writing up their findings in an appropriate format, e.g. papers for internal consumption and/or in our informal consultation.

ii. Team and project management

We expect the interim to:

• work effectively with other parts of Ofwat, for example our Casework team who have an interest this project and also ensure there is appropriate corporate knowledge transfer

• play an active role within the team, in particular by sharing their expertise more widely, providing constructive challenge, identifying inter-linkages and helping others to deliver

• project managing their own work effectively, ensuring this facilitates the timely delivery of the teams proposals

• potentially, for more experienced consultants -

a. using their expertise to guide the work of other team members

b. taking a greater role in pulling together and drafting our informal consultation.