An independent commission has been created to rectify the grossly inadequate regulation of water companies and their oversight.This new commission led by Sir Jon Cunliffe will focus on strengthening regulation, boosting investment and informing reform of the water sector.An enforcement body that is feared needs to be created to regulate the environmental aspect of the industry.The division of responsibilities between different industry regulators has not worked and a better whole-system regulator needs to be established.Water companies perform better on environmental reasons when listed on the stock exchange due to greater accountability and transparency.The settlement in 2004 was generous to water companies and led to an elevation of debt with limited enforcement of misconducts by Environment Agency.The new commission needs to prioritize the creation of an environmental enforcement body.Not-for-profit companies aren't the answer either, since Welsh Water has shown that environmental performance would not improve under such a company.The water industry needs to be prodded back to the stock market to improve financial performance, accountability, and transparency.The idea of nationalization of water companies has been ruled out as it doesn't offer a simple solution to the sector's problems.