Public patience is wearing thin. Ofwat must wield the big stick | Nils Pratley

Putting water companies on the naughty step and doling out tame financial penalties in not enoughHere's the short piece of good news from regulator Ofwat's annual assessment of the performance of the English and Welsh water companies: overall leakage stands at its lowest level since privatisation. That, unfortunately, was about it - and, note, progress on leaks came with the important qualification that there is a very long way to go to meet 2050 targets. The rest of the annual review was as bleak as any in recent years, especially on the most troubled issue of all - pollution.Six of the 10 major firms found themselves on the regulator's naughty step - the ones labelled laggards in terms of operational performance. They are Northumbrian Water, Southern Water, South West Water, Thames Water, Welsh Water and Yorkshire Water. Only Severn Trent of the big water and wastewater beasts got a "leading" rating and it was joined by water-only operators South Staffs and Bristol. The skew towards underperformance was marked and depressing. Continue reading...