The Environment Agency has assembled its largest ever team of
investigators, enforcement officers and lawyers tackling water
pollution, significantly strengthening its enforcement capability
as part of a drive to build a tougher regulatory culture.
The regulator has increased its water enforcement workforce
almost fivefold – from 41 roles in 2023 to 195 by March 2026,
with a further increase planned later in 2026. Water company
environmental performance has continued to decline in recent
years, and this has driven the need for stronger, more visible
enforcement action.
This expanded team means the regulator can deliver swifter,
tougher action against environmental harm - deterring illegal
activity, and focusing efforts on achieving a cleaner water
environment.
Enforcement officers investigate water companies for breaches of
environmental law. A typical day might see them visiting
facilities to inspect equipment, collecting water and soil
samples for chemical analysis, and providing evidence to courts
and legal teams to support prosecutions.
The EA has already delivered significant results, with over
10,000 planned water company inspections for the 2025/26
financial year complete, resulting in over 3000 individual
improvement actions for water companies, including repairing
sewage works and upgrading infrastructure. Water enforcement last
year resulted in over £6.9 million in enforcement undertakings
being paid by water companies after breaking environmental law
and redirected into cleaning up our waterways.
This suite of enforcement activity and record levels of
inspections has already led to improved performance from water
companies with a 4% decrease in permit breaches this year
following persistent underperformance across the sector.
This expansion is being backed by the largest budget for water
enforcement and compliance ever - with a record £153 million this
financial year to enable this increase. This includes funding
through the introduction of a strengthened “polluter pays”
approach, with water companies now covering the costs of
enforcement, including investigations.
The Environment Agency's Director for Water, Helen
Wakeham, said:
With more specialists and enforcement teams on the ground, the
Environment Agency has more resources than ever to protect our
waterways from pollution.
Our teams will use a wide range of actions to hold water
companies to account — from formal notices to civil penalties and
prosecution.
Enforcement is only one tool in our compliance toolbox. Our goal
is to identify and address the root causes of pollution and work
with water companies to prevent it from occurring in the first
place.
Water Minister said:
These extra officers and inspectors, hired under this government,
are already out on the ground carrying out thousands of checks on
water companies, helping to protect our rivers, lakes and seas
and restore public confidence in the system.
This workforce will be integral in holding water companies to
account, and delivering strengthened enforcement powers including
new, automatic and tougher penalties for water companies.
This increase in workforce forms part of the EA's transformation
of its enforcement approach, with increased funding enabling
additional dedicated water industry teams, stronger powers
through the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025, and a clear
strategy to tackle the root causes of environmental harm.
The Water (Special Measures) Act 2025 has already brought in new
powers to tackle poor performance, including cost recovery for
enforcement and prison sanctions for obstruction. Further
provisions to the act will follow, including new civil penalties
such as automatic penalties, statutory Pollution Incident
Reduction Plans and accelerated monitoring of all sewage
overflows.
As part of our commitment to transparency, we are also publishing
all of our Water Industry Compliance Assessment Report (CAR)
forms online, giving the public greater visibility of how
compliance is assessed and enforcement decisions are informed.
This builds on the government's recent launch of the Water
White Paper, a once-in-a-generation plan to overhaul the
water system, delivering tougher oversight and stronger
accountability for water companies.
Notes to Editors:
- The three highest enforcement undertakings were given to:
- Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust (£600,000)
- Severn Rivers Trust (£550,000)
- Mersey Rivers Trust (£517,000).
