of its long term capital expenditure is funded by long term loans from the Scottish Government. National policy is determined by the Scottish Government, to whom the authority reports. The Scottish Government has consulted as to how Scottish Water can work together with Scottish Canals and Caledonian Maritime Assets to achieve additional public benefit from all Scotland's water-related infrastructure, both inland and maritime. Investment programme "Quality and Standards" is the planning process that Scottish Government uses to set out areas for improvement. Quality and Standards 3, covered the period from 2006 to 2015, during which Scottish Water were asked to deliver one of the largest capital investment programmes in the UK, including more than 2,000 individual projects. There are two main elements: capital maintenance investment- to maintain existing levels of service to customers and to protect the environment, through replacing worn out plant and equipment capital enhancement investment- improvements in performance such as drinking water quality, environmental performance and customer service. A £3.5bn investment programme for the period 2015 to 2021 was announced on 29 September 2014. Scottish Water’s approach to capital maintenance has previously received independent, high level scrutiny. Scottish Water has been ranked the best UK water company and utility for customer service in the 2021 benchmarking survey by the Institute of Customer Service’s latest UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI). The company attributes this to prior focussing on customers. References External links Scottish Water The Water Industry Commission for Scotland (Scottish Water's economic regulator) The Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland (Scottish Water's water quality regulator) The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Scottish Water's environmental regulator) Companies established in 2002 Water Water companies of the United Kingdom Water supply and sanitation in Scotland 2002 establishments in Scotland Companies based in Fife Dunfermline Government agencies established in 2002 Utilities of Scotland