The Government will invest water company fines into local
projects across the country to clean up our rivers, lakes and
seas.
Over £100m in fines and penalties levied against water companies
since October 2023, as well as future fines and penalties, will
be reinvested into projects to clean up our waters which could
include local programmes to address pollution and improve water
quality.
When water companies breach their environmental permits – for
example by releasing excessive pollution into a river – that is a
criminal offence. The most serious cases, like illegal sewage
spills, see water company fines issued and criminal prosecutions
for water bosses.
A record 81
criminal investigations have been launched into water
companiesunder this government as part of a new operation
spearheaded by Environment Secretary .
This Government is clear that the current volume of sewage being
discharged to our waters is unacceptable. We have launched an
independent review, led by Sir , to reset the water sector regulatory system and
deliver a fair deal for customers and investors.
The Government is committed to cleaning up our rivers, lakes and
seas with increased enforcement against polluting water
companies, a record investment to fix broken pipes and a
generational review of the sector as part of its Plan for Change.
Secretary of State said:
We inherited a broken water system with record levels of sewage
being pumped into waters.
But the era of profiting from failure is over. A record 81
criminal investigations have been launched into water companies
under this government and Ofwat recently announced the largest
fine ever handed to a water company in history.
This Government will invest money collected through fines into
local projects to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.
More detail on the projects and programmes that this funding will
go towards will be set out in due course.
