Vacancy -- Chair, Wales Committee

Background

CCWater is a statutory body established on 1October 2005 under the Water Industry Act 1991 as amended by the Water Act 2003. Ito represents the interests of consumers of water and sewerage services in England and Wales and works with the Welsh and UK Governments, regulators (Ofwat, the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales and the Drinking Water Inspectorate) and the water industry. CCWater is funded via a levy added to each water bill in England and Wales. This is passed from the water companies to Ofwat, the economic regulator and then on to the UK Government which is then paid to the CCW as a grant. 

Organisational structure 

CCWater consists of a Council for England and Wales, known as the Board which comprises the Council Chair, four chairs of the English regional committees, the Chair of the committee for Wales and three independent members plus CCWater’s Chief Executive.  Each of the Wales and English[1] regional committees are supported by between three and six committee members known as Local Consumer Advocates (LCAs).

CCWater is based in Birmingham city centre and has a Wales office in Cardiff.

The CCWater Board is the governing body of the organisation and is responsible for setting policy priorities and for promoting the efficient and effective use of staff and other resources, whilst ensuring that it fulfils the aims and objectives of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Welsh Government (WG), as set out in the agreed Framework Document  http://www.ccwater.org.uk/aboutus/governance/governancedocuments/. NOTE: this document is currently under review.  

Each year CCWater consults on and publishes its Forward Work Programme (FWP) for the forthcoming year.  The FWP sets out CCWater’s priorities for representing consumers over the next three years and is supported by an Operational Business Plan (OBP) that sets out how the FWP priorities will be delivered.  The current FWP and OBP can be viewed at https://www.ccwater.org.uk/aboutus/publications/fwp/. 

The Water Act 2003 sets out CCWater’s functions and duties. These are: 

• have regard to the interests of consumers of water and sewerage services in England and Wales, including certain customers who are vulnerable because their access to services may be compromised by their age, income, disability or geography and customers that are not able to switch supplier under the Act’s competition measures;
• handle and investigate consumer complaints in respect of water and sewerage companies;
• obtain and keep under review information about consumer matters and the views of consumers on such matters;
• make proposals, provide advice and information and represent the views of consumers to public authorities, water and sewerage companies and others whose activities may affect the interests of consumers;
• provide advice and information to consumers;
• publish statistical information about complaints to and about water companies;
• investigating any matters of interest to consumers that are not necessarily the subject of a complaint.

CCWater Board

The Board is responsible for setting CCWater’s policy priorities and for promoting the efficient and effective use of its staff and other resources, whilst ensuring that it fulfils the aims and objectives of the Secretary of State and Welsh  Ministers, as set out in the agreed Framework Document – 

https://www.ccwater.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/CCW-Signed-Framework-document-May-2015.pdf between the three parties. 

The Board consists of the Chair, four Regional Chairs for England, a Wales Chair, three Independent Members and the Chief Executive. 

Committee for Wales

The Committee for Wales  consists of  the Wales Chair (who is also a member of the Council) and other members appointed by the Council under the Water Act 2003.

The Terms of Reference for the Committee for Wales are included in the Council’s Code of Governance (https://www.ccwater.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Code-of-Governance.pdf).  

The functions of the Committee for Wales are to:- 

• provide advice and information to CCWater on water customer matters in Wales;
• undertake risk based customer service assessments of customer complaint systems of the water and sewerage undertakers in Wales;
• work in partnership with other key stakeholders in Wales to deliver co-ordinated, efficient, value for money services for consumers;
• hold meetings in public to directly engage with customers;
• any other functions delegated to them by CCWater.

CCWater’s work for consumers

CCWater champions household and non-household water consumers, and works to represent the interests of the customers of today and future generations. 

CCWater is an evidence-based body. It uses consumer research and direct customer feedback from household and non-household consumers to inform everything it does and as such, the water industry, regulators and associated organisations recognise CCWater as an informed, influential and effective consumer champion. It takes up the complaints of household and non-household business consumers where their water company or retailer has failed to resolve issues with their bills or payments, or their water or sewerage services.  

Tailored Review

All Non Departmental Public Bodies  undergo a Tailored Review in each Parliament. 

Cabinet Office Guidance on Tailored Reviews can be found at:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/633573/Tailored_Review_Guidance_on_public_bodies_V1.2_July_2017.pdf

CCWater is expecting its review to take place in 2019. 

Further information about the role of CCWater, its priorities and achievements can be found on the CCWater website at: www.ccwater.org.uk.

The post-holder will lead the Committee responsible for representing the interests of water consumers in Wales, and as a member of the national CC Water Board, will provide strategic direction and oversight from a Wales perspective.  

There is no requirement for candidates to have had water industry experts. However, candidates should have senior level experience in the private, public or voluntary sector. Candidates should also demonstrate an understanding of the socio-economic context within which the CCWater operates, specifically an appreciation of the political and economic framework of the provision of private water supply to customers in Wales.

The Wales Chair reports to the Council Chair, is a member of CCWater’s Board and has the following strategic leadership responsibilities:

• ensuring that the CCWater Board, in reaching decisions, takes full account of  differences in the legislative, regulatory and policy framework in Wales;   
• keeping  the Welsh Government  informed of any changes which are likely to impact on the strategic direction of CCWater Wales or on the attainability of its targets, and determining the steps needed to deal with such changes;
• promoting the efficient and effective use of staff and other resources;
• negotiating and managing the relationship with stakeholders in Wales, including water companies, to produce tangible benefits for water customers;
• representing the views of the Wales Committee to the CCWater Board;
• representing CCWater’s views to water companies, other appropriate bodies and the general public including via the media;
• ensuring that the Wales Committee, in reaching decisions, takes  account of any policy and guidance provided by the CCWater Board;
• providing an assessment of performance of Wales Committee members on an annual basis, including when they are being considered for re-appointment to the Wales Committee, or for appointment to another public body;
• delivering high standards of regularity and propriety;
• representing CCWater Wales at the Welsh Government’s Water Forum meetings;
• ensuring CCWater’s research and work programme takes into account the policy direction of the Welsh Government and includes evidence originating from Wales; and
• Chair meetings of the Wales Committee at regular intervals throughout the year, and at least once a year in public.

A more detailed role description for the position of Wales Chair is available from the CCWater website at

https://www.ccwater.org.uk/aboutus/our-people/board/meettheboard/

To be considered, you must be able to demonstrate that you have the qualities, skills and experience to meet all the essential criteria for appointment:- 

Essential Criteria 

Candidates should be able to demonstrate the following: 

• the ability to act as an effective Board member and a demonstrable ability to manage organisational change;
• a strong commitment to representing consumer interests and using an evidence-based approach to deliver tangible benefits;
• understanding of the important social, economic and environmental issues impacting on customers of the privatised regulated utilities;
• experience of negotiating with and managing stakeholders to produce change and the ability to be an excellent ambassador to represent the organisation at the highest level;
• excellent communication and influencing skills, and experience of dealing with the media effectively;
• a clear understanding and commitment to equality issues and challenging discriminatory practices when appropriate; and
• an understanding of the importance of maintaining high standards in public life.  

Desirable Criteria 

• Strong communication skills, to ensure effective communication with water companies, other regulators, Welsh Government policy officials, Ministers and, on occasion, the media;
• An interest or knowledge of the Water Industry; 

Welsh Language

 The ability to communicate through the medium of Welsh is desirable but not essential.  However, all candidates will be expected to display an empathy towards the language and support decision making to strengthen bilingual service provision within the Consumer Council for Water.

Public Appointments Unit

Tel: 03000 61 6095; Email: publicappointments@gov.wales

mailto:publicappointments@gov.wales 

For further information regarding the role of CCWater and Wales Chair role please contact Alison Townsend, Board Secretary for CCWater: 

Tel: 0121 345 1042

Email: Alison.Townsend@ccwater.org.uk

If you need any further assistance in applying for this role, please contact the Public Appointments Unit on 03000 61 6095 or email

publicappointments@gov.wales 

For further information about Public Appointments in Wales, please visit www.gov.wales/publicappointments

To apply for this role, click on the ‘Apply’ button below. The first time you apply for a post, you will need to complete a registration form for the Welsh Government’s online application system.  You will only need to register once, and you will be able to keep yourself updated on the progress of your application, and any other applications you make, via your registered account.

Once you’ve registered, you’ll be able to access the application form.  To apply you will need to submit two supporting documents. The first, a document outlining how your knowledge, skills and experiences meet the criteria for the role as outlined in the information for candidates.  This document should be no more than 2 sides of A4.  Your application may be rejected if you exceed this limit.  The second document is a full, up to date CV.  The two documents should be uploaded to the ‘Reasons for applying’ section of the online application form.

In your application, you will also be asked to provide details of any activities which have helped you to develop skills that would be useful in a public appointment role, and list the organisations for which you undertook these activities.  We also need to know about any political activity that you’ve undertaken over the last 5 years. 

It is recommended that you register for an account and access the application form as soon as possible so that you see how the application form is structured, before starting to prepare your evidence.  You don’t have to complete the application form all in one go.  You can save your responses, and log in and out as required, until you’re ready to submit – just follow the guidance in the application form.

If you’d like to apply for this opportunity in Welsh, please use the ‘Newid Iaith / Change Language’ link at the top of this page, to take you to the Welsh version of this advert, from which you can apply in Welsh.

If you need any further assistance in applying for this role, please contact the Welsh Government’s Public Appointments Team on  PublicAppointments@gov.wales.

For further information about Public Appointments in Wales, please visit www.gov.wales/publicappointments