Polluting water bosses face up to two years in prison

Water company bosses could face up to two years in prison due to new powers in force today (Friday 25 April 2025).    

The new powers, delivered by the Government's landmark Water (Special Measures) Act 2025, mean water executives who cover up or hide illegal sewage spills can now be locked up.   

No prison sentences have been handed to water executives since privatisation despite widespread illegal sewage discharges into rivers, lakes and seas. These new, tougher penalties are essential because some water companies have obstructed investigations, failing to hand over vital evidence related to illegal sewage discharges. This has prevented crackdowns against law-breaking water companies.   

The new measures deliver on the Government's promise to bring tougher criminal charges against lawbreakers in the water industry. As part of the Government's Plan for Change, the threat of imprisonment will act as a powerful deterrent as water companies invest in upgrading broken water infrastructure and clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.    

Environment Secretary Steve Reed said:  

“Bosses must face consequences if they commit crimes. There must be accountability.   

“From today, there will be no more hiding places.    

“As part of the Plan for Change, water companies must now focus on cleaning up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.” 

In addition, new powers will mean that the polluters will pay for the cost of criminal investigations into wrongdoing. Authorities will now recover the costs of their enforcement activity, with the Environment Agency currently consulting on how they will use the powers.    

The payment of bonuses to water bosses will also be banned if they fail to meet high standards to protect the environment, their consumers, and their company's finances.   

Philip Duffy, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency said:   

“The Water (Special Measures) Act was a crucial step in making sure water companies take full responsibility for their impact on the environment.     

“The tougher powers we have gained though this legislation will allow us, as the regulator, to close the justice gap, deliver swifter enforcement action and ultimately deter illegal activity. 

“Alongside this, we're modernising and expanding our approach to water company inspections - and it's working. More people, powers, better data and inspections are yielding vital evidence so that we can reduce sewage pollution, hold water companies to account and protect the environment.”  

The Government will continue to reform the water sector in order to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas once and for all.   

Alongside this, £104 billion of private sector investment has been secured to upgrade and build new water infrastructure across the country, supporting the building of 1.5 million new homes, creating thousands of jobs and powering new industries such as gigafactories and data centres as part of the government's Plan for Change.    

Notes to editors: 
 

Criminal Liability  

• Until now, water regulators have faced significant challenges gathering evidence for prosecutions due to obstruction of their investigations.  

• This is a criminal offence, but since privatisation, only three water company officials have been criminally prosecuted for obstruction by the EA without appeal and the maximum punishment was merely a fine – though no fines were issued.  

• From now on, offences will be triable in both the Crown and Magistrates' Courts and imprisonment will act as a powerful deterrent, bringing water regulation powers in line with other sectors, such as those covering fraud or health and safety investigations.  

 The new provisions enable:  

• courts to include imprisonment as a sanction when investigations by water regulators (the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales and the Drinking Water Inspectorate) have been obstructed;

• obstruction offences to be heard in the Crown Court;

• directors and executives to be prosecuted where obstruction occurs with their consent, connivance or neglect.  

Previously: 

• obstructing regulators' investigations was not always punishable by imprisonment;

• cases could not always be heard in the Crown Court;

• there were no straightforward routes for prosecuting directors or executives where obstruction was committed with their consent or connivance, or was attributable to their neglect.     

The Water Special Measures Act received Royal Assent in February – see press release here: New law to ban bonuses for polluting water bosses - GOV.UK 

Further detail on the measures in the Act can be found in the Policy Statement here: Water (Special Measures) Act: policy statement - GOV.UK 

Action on water    

• The government has taken immediate action to reset the water sector. Change is being delivered three stages:  

• In his first week in office, the Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs Steve Reed announced a series of initial steps. This included immediately ringfencing funding for vital water infrastructure so that it can only be spent on upgrades benefiting the environment - not diverted for bonuses, dividends or salary increases. Where money is not spent, we will force water companies to return it to customers.  

• Second, the landmark Water (Special Measures) Act 2025 has been signed into law, marking the most significant increase in enforcement powers in a decade. The Act will:  

o    Strengthen regulation to ensure water bosses face personal criminal liability for lawbreaking.  

o    Give the water regulator new powers to ban the payment of bonuses if environmental standards are not met.  

o    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.  

o    Introduce new powers to bring automatic and severe fines.  

o    Require water companies to install real-time monitors at every emergency sewage outlet with data independently scrutinised by the water regulators.  

• Third, the Independent Commission into the water sector, launched by the UK and Welsh governments, is carrying out the largest review of the industry since privatisation. Its recommendations, due later this summer, will shape further laws to attract the investment needed to clean up our waterways, accelerate infrastructure delivery and restore public confidence in the sector.   

• The next five years will see £104 billion in private sector investment into the water industry—the largest since privatisation. This will drive forward 150 major infrastructure projects, creating over 30,000 jobs across the country, and support the building of 1.5 million new homes and powering new industries such as gigafactories and data centres.  

• The Secretary of State and Water Minister recently completed a ‘Things Can Only Get Cleaner' tour to see where this investment will underpin the building of new homes, create jobs and turbocharge local economies around the country – a cornerstone of the government's Plan for Change. This included a pledge to end sewage discharges into the iconic lake Windermere.