Will a skills shortage inhibit water regulation?

Jo Reeves, an Independent Water Industry Journalist, looks at the effects of legislation on water industry skills, and how this makes for business growth for producers of 'easy to maintain' pumps

The water industry has seen many changes in recent years.

Privatisation, the introduction of framework agreements and the outsourcing of many of the required technical skills have all seen the sector face some radical transformations.

Today, many water companies don't retain their own full in-house engineering team and rely on contractors to fulfil their requirements.

It may be financially viable, but this streamlining of permanent workers brings up another issue - there is a smaller pool of qualified, experienced engineers and consultants with skills available to the industry.

While many water authorities choose not to train their own in-house workers, they are allowing themselves to become vulnerable when it comes to having a skilled, and technically competent workforce.

The implications of this are wide reaching.

Lack of resource means that companies have to rely on a smaller pool of available workers - and are paying salaries which reflect this shortage.

In the worst scenario, resources could become so low that vital work could be delayed and this could have serious financial repercussions on water authorities that already have to meet tough regulatory timeframes and targets.

Water industry specialist Philip Bolton who works for peristaltic pump manufacturers Watson-Marlow Bredel has seen evidence of the dwindling workforce and believes it is mostly down to the length and exclusivity of framework agreements: "One of the problems associated with these agreements is that contractors who don't 'win' the framework may be excluded from doing business with the contracting authority due to the exclusivity of the arrangement.

This means that unsuccessful companies may have to lay off some of their workforce, and they often move into other industries: their skills are lost to the water industry".

The regulatory process, specifically the AMP stages can also have a detrimental affect on those working within the water sector.

"The twelve month lull that occurs as one stage moves in to the next means that many companies are left short of business and again forced to reduce their workforce.

The regulatory forces would do well to address this issue as it is a significant contributor to the current state of depleted consultants and engineers," explains Bolton.

While regulators are aware of the issue of skills shortages, they don't yet see the problem as severe enough to affect their main priority - meeting the legislation specified.

AT WATER UK, Communications Director Barrie Clarke, talks about the pressures on the industry: "We are all aware of the strain on the availability of the right people, and we accept that there are no grounds for complacency.

There is an on-going debate about the existence of framework agreements and the changes in the roster of companies within them.

Clearly they are of more benefit to some than others, but it seems there is a collaborative agreement in favour of longer term investment within the sector".

On the subject of AMP, Barrie Clarke comments: "Regulators are also aware that the five year AMP process needs some smoothing over so that the less productive time lapses are minimised.

While it is accepted that the system needs to tie-in price setting to enable a more constant investment process, the situation is not as gloomy as it might be".

Some of the water utilities however, are already taking steps to encourage more workers into the industry.

* THAMES WATER, for example, have announced they are finding it hard to recruit engineers, technicians and specialists, and they have established a SkillsGap Project to promote engineering as a career to young people.

They have also increased the size of their graduate programme to 50 per year and developed additional apprenticeship schemes in water and waste process and design.

So there are positive moves to address the skills shortages before they become serious enough to affect both regulation and supply.

But the lack of skilled experts isn't a negative for everyone.

* WATSON-MARLOW BREDEL have seen an upsurge in business, which Philip Bolton ascribes to the simplicity of their product in terms of installation and maintenance needs.

"Our pumps require very little installation and virtually no additional hardware.

They are so easy to operate and maintain that skilled engineers aren't necessary.

In today's market this is a major bonus as it reduces or eliminates the need for the time and skill of an engineer on site - which are increasingly hard to get hold of - and are expensive for the user.

Added to that is the short time needed for hose changing, which can be done in-situ".

Having equipment which is reliable, easy to run and doesn't need constant servicing and monitoring is now vital for water companies.

Not having to rely on contractors every time a pump needs updating or fixing is becoming increasingly important.

Could an increase in the popularity of hassle-free technology be a peripheral consequence of the water industry's skill shortages? "Why not," asks Bolton: "Water authorities want to make the best financial decisions possible and the concern over lack of skilled engineers may well encourage the realisation that using simple, reliable equipment that eliminates engineering skills and time on site, can offer a solution to a significant portion of their maintenance requirements.".

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