Consultation on Social and Environmental Guidance for Water and Sewerage Services for Price Control 28 (PC28) (2028/29 – 2032/33)

Overview

The Department for Infrastructure ('The Department') invited all interested parties to have their say as part of a consultation on draft Social and Environmental Guidance (‘The Guidance’) for Water and Sewerage Services for the period 2028/29-2032/33. This consultation opened 1 September 2026 and closed 27 October 2026.

The Guidance will inform how water and sewerage services are provided in Northern Ireland and will also set out what NI Water will need to do to meet its environmental obligations, continue to make improvements in service delivery and work to operate sustainably, taking account of climate change.

The Guidance sets out the Department’s key social and environmental policies that the Minister for Infrastructure expects the Utility Regulator to have regard to in carrying out its role of regulating the water industry during the next Price Control period, PC28 (2028/29 - 2032/33).

In line with Article 7 of the Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006, following the public consultation the Guidance will be further developed for approval by the Northern Ireland Executive and will be laid before the Northern Ireland Assembly. Once finalised it will be issued to the Utility Regulator.

The Guidance is available on the Consultations section of the Department's website.

The Department is considering the consultation responses recieved and will prepare a Consultation Responses Report. This will be published on the Department’s website in due course.