The impact of privatisation on the water sector in England and Wales

The work presents the story of the British Government privatisation of water supply and sewerage services, carrying out the largest and most comprehensive transfer of these public sector services seen anywhere in the world. Privatisation has given rise to major changes in the water sector driven by very large expenditure programs. The newly found freedom gave rise to a process of diversification and acquisition. The effect of the new pricing policy were that the companies were given incentives to be efficient and lower their costs which would benefit customers in the long term