Background

Windermere is the largest of the English lakes, nestled in the English Lake District National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Home to approximately 15,000 people the catchment receives a further 7 million visitors annually. 

Windermere has been at the centre of significant public and political interest in water quality and the role of water companies in recent years.  The iconic lake, like many worldwide, is showing the effects of nutrient enrichment from sewage but also from other activities in the catchment including farming. 

In December 2024, Ofwat made the final determination¹ on United Utilities Water’s proposals under AMP8 as part of the five yearly price review process.  Amongst other requirements, the determination included: 

• Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) driven improvements to United Utilities Water assets and infrastructure in the catchment including technically achievable or thereabouts standards of Phosphorus removal at all Wastewater Treatment Works and reduction in spills from all Storm Overflows by 2030. 
• A ‘bespoke performance commitment – Wonderful Windermere²’ to drive improvements in third party assets to support interventions that reduce sources of Phosphorus from private sewage treatment works and land.  

Wonderful Windermere is the first initiative of its kind in the sector, and as such the scheme has come under scrutiny.  In response, as required by Ofwat, United Utilities Water has undertaken targeted consultation in Summer 2025³. Following this, United Utilities Water refined the performance commitment methodology⁴ which was then approved by Ofwat in August 2025.

Alongside other changes, United Utilities Water committed to appoint an ‘Independent Data Assurer’ to review, scrutinise and ratify its data to support robust governance and assurance through the Love Windermere Partnership.  

Role requirements and responsibilities

The role will provide external and independent review and scrutiny of data collected by United Utilities Water and provided in annual reports to the Love Windermere Partnership.  

The independent data assurer will be appointed to sit outside of the governance group.  The independent assurer will provide external and independent scrutiny of: 

• Sample data analysis
• Assumptions underpinning phosphorus removal calculations
• Reported phosphorus reductions achieved
• Data in the annual report to be published on 1 September each year from 2026 onwards.

The role of the independent assurer will be to provide external scrutiny of the performance commitment and an independent view to the governance group to ensure its governance of the performance commitment is robust and supported by evidence. 

The successful applicant will be required to attend meetings and provide written reports to the Love Windermere Partnership Board.  Meetings are held both online and face to face within the Windermere catchment. 

While this role has an important part in providing independent review and scrutiny of data that will be documented by the Love Windermere Partnership, the final assessment will be made by United Utilities Water’s assurance framework with a final annual in-period determination by Ofwat. 

Skills and experience

• Understanding of both the theoretical and practical considerations required for monitoring Phosphorus loads from sewage treatment and land-management practices. 
• Proven experience of reviewing and scrutinising of results against an agreed methodology.  
• Producing written reports and providing verbal presentations where required to inform decision making. 
• Ability to provide expert review and scrutiny of complex data but convey that advice to a wide audience including non-scientific professionals.  
• Experience in analysing results from field sampling for Phosphorus. 
• Familiarity with and experience of scrutinising the use of modelled values for Phosphorus removal (e.g. farmscoper).  
• Knowledge and experience of combining field/real sample results with modelled values for both sewage and land-management scenarios. 
• Proven experience of working within a regulated framework including delivering to time and standard. 
• Proven experience of working independently from, but within, a Partnership context including public, private and third sector organisations. 
• Familiarity with the Windermere catchment, including its geography and key stakeholders. 

Governance

The Governance and Assurance for the bespoke performance commitment is set out in the Wonderful Windermere methodology approved by Ofwat in August 2025 2025-08-21-final-methodology.pdf

The review and scrutiny provided by this role will help ensure this methodology is followed and that the data provided is robust and supported by evidence.

United Utilities Water is solely responsible for the accuracy and veracity of all information presented to the governance group and for complying with the requirements of the Wonderful Windermere performance commitment. 

Time commitment

Wonderful Windermere is available to operators of private sewage treatment or land managers in the Windermere catchment.  It will run through the AMP8 time period of 2025-2030.  

The annual time commitment will depend largely on the number of eligible sites that progress through the scheme but could be in the order of 3-10 projects per year.  Each site will require a review of the data and production of a report to Love Windermere Partnership Board.  The Board meets every two months. 

The contract value will ultimately depend on the number of projects that come forward.  Year one has one project and therefore the contract value for year one will be proportional.  It is expected that the full contract value for the four years will be under £100k. 

United Utilities Water will produce an annual report using assured data, due each September. 

Contracting

To ensure independence from United Utilities Water, the invitation and the screening for this role will be conducted by a panel from the Love Windermere Partnership.  The panel will not include Partners who are involved in projects within the Wonderful Windermere performance commitment. 

The Love Windermere Partnership has not received any financial or in-kind support from United Utilities Water to undertake this process. 

The contract however will be between the successful applicant and United Utilities Water and will be paid by United Utilities Water.  

Timescales

The independent data assurer must be appointed by early February 2026 and able to provide review and scrutiny of calendar year 2025 data by the end of March 2026.  There is currently one project to review in that timescale. 

The contract will run for five years, concluding with the closure of AMP8 in 2030. .

How to apply

As the tendering authority, United Utilities Water have issued this request for quotes.

However, as the evaluation will be done by a panel of Love Windermere Partners not involved in the bespoke performance commitment, quotations with accompanying CV setting out experience and any relevant case study should be sent addressed to the Love Windermere Partnership Manager by email to love.windermere@environment-agency.gov.uk by midnight on Sunday 25 January 2026.

Evaluation

Quotations and accompanying CVs will be evaluated by a panel of Love Windermere Partners not involved in the bespoke performance commitment.   

Only applications that contain a quotation and CV will be reviewed. Those not providing this will not process to evaluation. 

The evaluation will be fair, compliant, and documented across the bidders for the best value for money. 

The assessment will be to award to the supplier who offers the best value for money whilst meeting the specified requirements of the scope. 

Pricing Mechanism

As the contracting body, the purchasing policy and procurement rules applying to United Utilities Water will be followed. 

United Utilities Water have a purchasing policy as per the procurement rules which requires United Utilities Water to obtain a minimum of three competitive quotes for contract value under £100,000.  

Therefore, this request for quotation requires within the value range to seek a minimum of three written quotes from different suppliers. All suppliers will receive the same specification to ensure a like for like evaluation. 

Conflict of Interest

Therefore, this request for quotation requires within the value range to seek a minimum of three written quotes from different suppliers. All suppliers will receive the same specification to ensure a like for like evaluation. 

Terms and Conditions

Standard United Utilities Water Purchase Order Terms and Conditions will apply. Available on request.