South East Water Ltd v Water Services Regulation Authority

Mr Justice Chamberlain held that the test for interim relief was the heightened test applied in cases such as R (Governing Body of X) v Ofsted [2020] EWCA Civ 594, [2020] EMLR 22, under which a public authority would only “in exceptional circumstances” be restrained from publishing information it was obliged or empowered to publish.

The Court found that South East Water had not met that threshold. Mr Justice Chamberlain weighed the harm said to arise to South East Water from publication (in particular the likely effect of the decision on SEW’s credit rating and its ability to secure additional financing) against the countervailing public interests in regulatory transparency and customers being informed. He held that any harm to South East Water was not shown to be sufficiently grave or irreparable, whereas restraining publication would risk distorting decision-making by investors and ratings agencies, delay Ofwat’s ability to take steps to protect customers, and require the proceedings to be conducted in private. The balance therefore lay in favour of allowing Ofwat to publish its proposed decision.

Tom Cleaver and Femi Adekoya acted on behalf of Ofwat.

The judgment can be found here.