Yorkshire Forum for Water Customers

June 2024: Yorkshire Water mourns the loss of Andrea Cook OBE 

We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Andrea Cook OBE, the Chair of the Yorkshire Forum for Water Customers. Andrea was a passionate advocate for customers and the environment, and a valued partner in the water sector. She played a vital role in shaping our business plans. Andrea started as Chair of our Forum back in 2012, challenging us to deliver more for our customers and communities through each price review since then.  

Andrea was a respected leader and a source of inspiration for many. She had a wealth of experience and expertise in the fields of regulation and governance, with a particular interest in the needs of people on a low income, other vulnerable people and in dealing with issues of affordability. She was awarded an OBE in 1990 for her services to consumers in energy sector. 

On behalf of everyone at Yorkshire Water, we would like to offer our deepest sympathies to Andrea's family, friends, and colleagues. Her charm, wit and character will be greatly missed by all who knew her and worked with her. We will honour her legacy by continuing to put our customers at the heart of everything we do. 

Senior Adviser Water and Land Use

Natural England

Natural England is the Government’s adviser for the natural environment in England, helping to protect England’s nature and landscapes for people to enjoy and for the services they provide. It is sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and is responsible for making sure that England's natural environment, including its land, plants and animals, freshwater and marine environments, geology and soils are protected and improved.

About Tom

Tom is Natural England’s Senior Adviser in Water and Land Use for the Yorkshire Area, with the lead responsibility for Ofwat’s 2019 price review.  He has a long-established overview of Natural England’s work with us, which dates back over 10 years.  He has helped champion the environmental benefits and public value of ecosystem services, to water companies, which aim to provide positive and affordable outcomes to society. Tom is a member of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management and a chartered environmentalist. He aims, through the Yorkshire Forum for Water Customers, to create and strengthen relationships between us and the forum members to see how best we can contribute to the natural environment, while meeting the needs of customers.

Independent Member

Chris has worked throughout the charitable and voluntary sectors in Yorkshire and the East Midlands as a welfare benefits specialist and Deputy Chief Executive at Citizens Advice. Chris sits on the Forum as an independent member, with a particular interest in affordability and vulnerability where he chairs the Affordability and Vulnerability Subcommittee. Chris has more than 10 years’ experience of welfare benefits policy, working to tackle poverty and discrimination. Chris is a trustee at a local Charity Centreplace, which offers support for children and young people around sexual orientation or gender identity. He is the Forum’s Acting Chair.

National Farmers Union

The NFU is the only organisation that champions all farmers and growers in England and Wales. They are here to give you a voice and protect your way of life now and in the future. The NFU’s purpose is to champion British agriculture and horticulture, to campaign for a stable and sustainable future for British farmers and to secure the best possible deal for their members. Their strength is in their numbers. With more than 55,000 members, they are heard when it counts – locally, nationally and internationally. Every single member matters and makes the NFU stronger. A stronger NFU can be more influential, achieve more and give a more powerful and unified voice. Today, the NFU is the most successful representation body for agriculture and horticulture, with members covering two-thirds of the agricultural land in England and Wales.

James is the Environment and Land Use Adviser for NFU North (Yorkshire, Tyne & Wear, Northumberland, Cumbria, Lancashire and Cheshire). The role includes taking an overview on matters relating to managing land and the environment, including the availability of water, water quality, flood risk, land use, environmental schemes, planning, infrastructure, waste, climate change and adaptation. He works closely with all the Defra family (Natural England, Environment Agency, Marine Management Organisation and the Forestry Commission), local authorities, commercial companies, parks, environment, non-government organisations and catchment partnerships (Working at the catchment level, this partnership is a group that works with key stakeholders to agree and deliver the strategic priorities for the catchment and to support the Environment Agency in developing an appropriate river-basin management plan, which is needed under the Water Framework Directive), to name but a few. He is passionate that agricultural businesses are given the opportunity to develop their business, and that the NFU lobbies for a landscape that allows this to happen, making sure that policy is rooted in the real world.

CEO

BAME Voices

Kursh is CEO of BAME Voices and an independent member of the forum with an interest in marginalised public engagement, particularly in relations with affordability and vulnerability. He brings experience from the health and wellbeing sector where he sits on a number of different boards and forums in addition to this he is also a governor at the BTH NHS Foundation Trust. Kursh is working alongside national research organisations and universities to create public awareness and involvement in projects, with an aim to reduce health inequalities from within marginalised communities.

Independent Member

Dave acts as an independent member of the Yorkshire Forum for Water Customers, on which he previously represented local authorities in Yorkshire (2012 to 2015). Professionally, he is a chartered civil engineer and member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and of the Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation. He is currently employed part-time by Amey Consulting and Rail as a principal engineer, working on Network Rail’s 2019-2024 London North Eastern and East Midlands Bridge Assessment contract.

Dave’s civil-engineering background gives him the experience to help examine Yorkshire Water's significant capital-investment programme. He also has considerable knowledge of transport, planning, environment and sustainability, flooding, policing, health and children’s services and local-government issues generally. He had senior roles at York City Council, and its unitary successor authority (City of York Council), on which he served from 1982 to 2015, and again since 2023. Dave also served at different times on the Yorkshire & Humber Regional Assembly, the Local Government Association (he was Deputy Chair of the Environment & Regeneration Board), Yorkshire Regional Flood & Coastal Committee, with obvious crossovers to water-industry issues. Finally, he also brings ongoing experience of knocking on people’s doors, listening to their concerns and problems – the pressures on their budgets, concerns about the risk of flooding, pollution, the environment and Climate Change – and has experience of working with disadvantaged communities and individuals.

Environment Agency 

The Environment Agency works to create better places for people and wildlife, and support sustainable development.  They are one of the water companies’ environmental regulators and one of the statutory members of all water companies’ customer challenge groups (CCGs).

They use the opportunity of working with the Water Forum for Yorkshire Customers to review and challenge our next five-year plan so that we achieve the best possible outcomes for both customers and the environment.

Fiona has more than 30 years’ experience in the Environment Agency in a range of roles, and is also a member of the Northumbrian Water Forum.

Citizens Advice Rotherham

Policy Manager

CCW (Consumer Council for Water) 

CCW is the independent organisation representing household and business customers across England and Wales. It was set up in 2005 to represent customers, including making sure their interests are at the heart of decision-making in the water industry. It works with customers to listen to their views, answer their enquiries and sort out their complaints about water companies. It uses evidence from customer research, information from water companies, comparisons with other water companies, complaints and information on company performance, as well as feedback from household and business customers, to guide its work on behalf of all water customers. Its duty to vulnerable customers and the need for sustainable development (balancing economic, environmental and social responsibilities) supports all its activities. As well as its formal duties, it focuses on getting the balance right in the long term on affordability and making sure future water supplies and sewerage services are reliable and delivered to a high level of service. There is a balance to be struck between the cost of bills now and the cost of bills for future generations. 

Steve began his career in the Water Industry in the early 1990’s with the original consumer representative, Ofwat’s Thames Customer Service Committee. Steve has over 30 years’ experience of speaking up for water customers through his work with water and sewerage companies across England and Wales. He has worked on a wide range of consumer issues and now leads CCW’s national work on all wastewater related issues including sewer flooding, storm overflows, drainage misconnections and misuse of sewers. He challenges their services from the customer’s point of view and encourages them to put the customer at the centre of their plans and decision-making.