About the Scottish water industry
From 1 April 2008 there will be competition in the Scottish water industry. Scottish Water will continue to be responsible for the physical delivery of water to, and removal of wastewater from, all customers’ premises. However, all business customers will be able to choose their retailer – the company that reads their meter, sends them a bill, and provides their point of contact when they have queries about their service. Scottish Water will bill the retailer, and the retailer will bill its customers. There will be no change to the current arrangements for domestic customers.
About the CMA
The Central Market Agency Ltd (CMA) is a newly-created company that will administer the market for water and wastewater retail services in Scotland. The CMA will keep a record of which business customers are served by each retailer. It will also calculate the money owed to Scottish Water by each retailer in payment for the services used by that retailer’s customers.
The CMA is a company limited by guarantee and owned by its members. Scottish Water is the founding member; any retailers that enter the market will also become members. The chairman of the CMA is Dr. Brian Saunders.
The rules governing all market participants are set out in a Market Code and an Operational Code. The CMA has a Technical Panel that is responsible for the ongoing development of these documents.