Following Ofwat's announcement this morning,
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,
said:
“I welcome Ofwat's action today. The unacceptable destruction of
our waterways should never have been allowed - and it is right
that those responsible for illegally polluting our rivers, lakes
and seas face the consequences.
“This Government will fundamentally reform the water sector. We
have announced our first steps to clean up the water industry in
our Water (Special Measures) Bill, to cut sewage pollution,
protect customers and attract investment to upgrade its crumbling
infrastructure.
“We will outline further legislation to transform and reset our
water industry and restore our rivers, lakes and seas to good
health.”
Background briefing:
- Last month Ofwat set out proposals for the biggest ever
investment in the water sector – £88 billion to clean up our
water and invest in the necessary infrastructure. This is the
second biggest investment in the economy in this
Parliament.
- This investigation is the responsibility of Ofwat as the
independent economic regulator, and is separate to the
Environment Agency's ongoing criminal investigation into
discharges at wastewater treatment works.
- In his first week in post, the Secretary of State for
Environment outlined a series of new measures to ensure water
companies clean up their act. This includes securing agreement
that funding for vital infrastructure investment is ringfenced
and can only be spent on upgrades benefiting customers and the
environment. Ofwat will also ensure that when money for
investment is not spent, companies refund customers, with money
never allowed to be diverted for bonuses, dividends or salary
increases.
- The Water (Special Measures) Bill, announced in the King's
Speech, will:
- Strengthen regulation to ensure water bosses face personal
criminal liability for lawbreaking;
- Give the water regulator new powers to ban the payment of
bonuses if environmental standards are not met;
- Boost accountability for water executives through a new ‘code
of conduct' for water companies, so customers can summon board
members and hold executives to account;
- Introduce new powers to bring automatic and severe
fines;
- Require water companies to install real-time monitors at
every sewage outlet with data independently scrutinised by the
water regulators.
