Dear Colleague,
Tougher penalties on water companies
I have today written to all of England’s water company CEOs to clearly set out that the sewage discharge into our waterways is unacceptable. I, and the public, expect better.
In our Plan for Water, we set out our commitment to go further and faster in taking action to improve our waters with more investment, stronger regulation and tougher enforcement. But water companies themselves must hold up their side of the bargain, and so in my letter today I have asked for further action at pace in the next 12 months to tackle sewage discharges as a priority, and I expect to receive plans shortly. The annex attached to this letter sets out further detail on the actions we are taking.
We are delivering on this commitment with the Environment Agency, today, able to use new powers to issue unlimited fines to water companies who break the law. The Environment Agency will also, from today, be able to use penalties for a wider range of offences, including breaches, for example, of sewage treatment works and storm overflow permits. I have written to the Environment Agency setting out my expectations for holding water companies to account, and that I expect the regulator to use every tool in its toolbox, including new powers provided today, to stop companies breaking the law.
Any penalties will be issued in line with sentencing council guidelines. To that end, I have also written to the Lord Chancellor today to request a review of current guidelines, to ensure that fines reflect the seriousness of an offence and repeat water company offenders. I want to be clear that this Government will be as robust as possible in dealing with criminal activity from the water sector. Profit must never come at the cost of pollution.
If you would like to discuss this topic further, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours sincerely,
Steve Barclay MP
Annex A: Government action to tackle sewage pollution
Plan for Water
- In April this year, we published the Plan for Water, which marks a step-change in how we manage our waters.
- Our Plan for Water will transform the water system through more investment, stronger regulation, and tougher enforcement to deliver the clean and plentiful water the public expects.
- Through the plan, we are tackling every source of pollution, from agriculture to road run-off, to chemicals – as well as the pressures on our water resources as a result of hotter, drier summers and population growth. That means supporting our farmers to manage slurry and reduce run-off, improving water efficiency in our homes, banning harmful chemicals, and holding water companies to account.
Tackling storm overflows
- In August 2022 the Government launched the most ambitious plan to reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows in water company history. Following consultation, the government published an expanded Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan on 25 September 2023 to cover storm overflows discharging to coastal and estuarine waters.
- This Plan will drive the largest infrastructure programme in water company history - £60 billion capital investment over 25 years.
- The Plan prioritises bathing waters and areas of high ecological importance for early action. It will eliminate ecological harm from all storm sewage discharges by 2050.
- Additionally, as part of the Plan for Water, over £2.2 billion of new, accelerated investment will be directed into vital infrastructure to improve water quality and secure future supplies, with £1.7bn of this being used to tackle storm overflows.
Regulation and enforcement
- We are driving up monitoring and transparency so the public can see what is going on – we have increased the number of storm overflows monitored across the network from 7% in 2010, to 91% now, and with 100% expected by the end of the year.
- Water companies must not profit from environmental damage, and we have given the economic regulator Ofwat increased powers under the Environment Act 2021 to hold water companies to account for poor performance, and ensure company dividends and bonus payments are linked to environmental performance.
- We have been tough on requiring the water companies to deliver - and holding them to account when they do not. Since 2015, the Environment Agency has concluded 59 prosecutions, securing record fines of over £150 million against water companies. The Environment Agency has also launched the largest criminal investigation into unpermitted water company sewage discharges ever at over 2,200 treatment works.
- We have announced that fines and penalties will be redistributed into the Water Restoration Fund, to protect and enhance the water environment.