Minister for Water and Flooding (): I wish to update the House on
the action this Government is taking to strengthen water company
resilience to heatwaves and sustained hot weather.
The Met Office outlook for July to September 2026 indicates that
a hotter than usual three-month period is more likely than
normal. Higher temperatures can place significant pressure on
water resources and infrastructure, increase customer demand, and
heighten the risk of localised supply interruptions. It is
therefore essential that water companies maintain robust plans to
protect customers and sustain supplies during periods of severe
and prolonged heat.
This year has already been challenging for water supplies. Some
parts of the country have received lower than average rainfall
this spring, such as the Anglian region where only 39% of
expected rainfall fell. Combined with record spring temperatures,
this has reduced reservoir and groundwater storage and river
flows across a number of regions.
Alongside recent heatwaves, water companies have increased supply
to meet rising demand. During the Met Office Red Heat Warning,
Thames Water supplied an additional 316 million litres of water
per day compared with the previous year, while Anglian Water
increased production by up to 30%, equivalent to supplying a
county the size of Lincolnshire. Despite these pressures and some
localised supply interruptions, the sector avoided widespread
disruption and maintained supplies to the vast majority of
customers.
On Thursday 2 July, I brought together the senior leadership of
Water UK and those water companies most affected by the recent
Met Office Amber and Red Heat Warnings to review the sector's
response to the recent period of extreme heat, assess
preparedness for the remainder of the summer, and agree the
actions necessary to strengthen resilience and protect customers
during any future periods of sustained hot weather. The meeting
examined lessons from recent heatwaves and the actions needed to
reduce future risks to customers.
Temporary Use Bans (TUBs) are in place across a number of regions
in response to high levels of demand. TUBs are currently in place
for South East Water customers in Kent, Southern Water customers
in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, South West Water customers in
Mid Devon and parts of East Devon, and across the Anglian Water
region. Cambridge Water and Affinity Water have also announced
TUBs which will come into force shortly. Such measures can help
manage demand and protect supplies during periods of sustained
pressure.
Everyone has a role to play in using water wisely, particularly
during periods of sustained hot weather. I expect water companies
to provide customers with clear and timely information on the
practical steps they can take to reduce the amount of water they
use during periods of peak demand.
The Government will maintain close oversight of water sector
resilience throughout the summer. My officials remain in regular
contact with the sector, regulators and resilience partners to
monitor demand, water resource availability, infrastructure
resilience and incident preparedness. I expect all water
companies to manage periods of exceptional demand, protect
vulnerable customers and respond effectively to incidents. Where
performance or preparedness falls short, I will not hesitate to
take the action needed to minimise impacts on customers.
I welcome Ofwat's announcement of a £30.5m redress package for
South East Water for failures that left thousands of households
without water for days. The package was developed following a
joined-up approach between water regulators, targeting the best
possible action to address SEW's failures. This is in line with
the Government's proposed water reforms, which will involve the
new regulator taking a supervisory approach enabling a broader
and better understanding of company performance, earlier
intervention and prevention of further decline. The package also
includes requirements to produce a Performance Improvement Plan,
setting out how the company will deliver sustained improvement in
its performance, and an Independent Monitor to support Ofwat to
assess progress against the plan.
A reliable supply of clean water is fundamental to public health,
economic growth and community resilience. Alongside immediate
action to prepare for summer pressures, this Government is
delivering the long-term reforms needed to build a stronger and
more resilient water sector.
Through our programme of water reform, we are strengthening
regulation and accountability while ensuring companies deliver
the investment needed to improve infrastructure and resilience.
We will create a single, powerful regulator, giving Government
and regulators, for the first time, a clear system-wide view of
company performance and stronger tools to intervene where
companies fall short. We will also introduce a Water Ombudsman,
ensuring that customers have a stronger voice and clearer routes
to redress when things go wrong.
This builds on the Water (Special Measures) Act, which introduced
the toughest sentencing powers ever applied to law-breaking water
company executives and powers to ban unjustified executive
bonuses. Together, these reforms will strengthen accountability
and help restore public confidence in the water sector.
We will also introduce statutory resilience standards, improve
asset mapping and strengthen oversight of critical infrastructure
to help water companies prepare for climate change and more
frequent periods of extreme heat.
