Independent Water Commission

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts

Monday 12th January 2026 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness McIntosh of Pickering]

To ask His Majesty’s Government when they plan to introduce legislation giving effect to the recommendations of the Independent Water Commission chaired by Sir Jon Cunliffe.

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Katz) (Lab)]

My Lords, the Government have carefully considered the Independent Water Commission’s final recommendations and will respond in a forthcoming White Paper. A new water reform Bill will then follow, during this Parliament, to bring forward root-and-branch reform that secures better outcomes for customers, protects the environment, stimulates investment and restores trust and accountability. Together with steps already taken by the Government, this will mark the most fundamental reset to our water system in a generation.

[Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)]

My Lords, among the recommendations made by Sir Jon Cunliffe were proposals to have mandatory statutory provisions for sustainable drains and the end to the automatic right to connect to main sewers. Given the outage and the water leaks in Kent and Sussex, whereby tens of thousands of homes have been without water, have the Government made an assessment, given that that area has had the most dramatic housebuilding development, of whether the fact that there are no statutory provisions for SUDS or end to the automatic right to connect to main sewers has contributed to the loss of water in those cases?

[Lord Katz (Lab)]

I know that the noble Baroness has taken a long interest in SUDS, and I want to reassure her and the House that the Government are strongly committed to improving the implementation of sustainable drainage systems. In December 2024, we made changes to the National Planning Policy Framework to support increased delivery of SUDS; the new planning policy framework now requires all developments to utilise SUDS where they could have drainage impacts appropriate to the nature and scale of the development. In June last year, the Government introduced new national standards to make clear that SUDS should be used to cope with the change in climatic conditions and deliver wider benefits. We are now consulting on a revised National Planning Policy Framework, including for flood risk and sustainable drainage systems, and separately on proposals to increase the adoption of shared amenities with guidance to ensure lifetime maintenance.

As the noble Baroness has raised the current situation on the ground in Kent and parts of Sussex, I want to make it clear that restoring supply must be the company’s priority and every possible measure must be taken to protect vulnerable customers and ensure that those affected receive decent and proper compensation. To that extent, Defra Ministers are meeting daily with the chief executive of the water company and local MPs to reinforce the fact that this level of service failure cannot continue.