Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of enforcement action taken against water and sewerage undertakers for breaches of environmental permits.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

We will not let companies get away with illegal activity and where breaches are found, the Environment Agency (EA) will not hesitate to hold companies to account.

The Water (Special Measures) Act has provided the most significant increase in enforcement powers to the regulators in a decade, giving existing regulators the teeth they need to take tougher action against water companies, including new powers for the EA to impose automatic penalties, and penalties to the lower, civil standard of proof.

Over the past three years, the annual inspections requirement has risen from 1,000 to 4,000 with a target of 10,000 for 2025/26, reflecting a significant strengthening of regulatory oversight. By the end of February 2026, over 10,154 inspections had already been delivered. As a result of this strengthened regulatory presence, the EA has brought forward 19 legal proceedings, four prosecutions, and 19 civil sanctions so far this year, alongside increased warnings and further investigations into serious pollution incidents.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many inspections of wastewater treatment works and storm overflows were conducted by the Environment Agency in each of the last five years.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Environment Agency has provided the following figures for inspections of wastewater treatment works and storm overflows in each of the last five financial years.

* 2025/26 data is year to date (as of 18 March). March 2026 data is also still to be completed.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will make an assessment of alternative governance for water utilities, including public ownership and mutual structures.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

There are several different ownership models in the companies providing water in the United Kingdom.

Where a company requests to transition to a new ownership model, we have committed in the White Paper that the regulator will develop a transparent process to assess whether the change should go ahead and ensure customer interests are properly reflected in the decision.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of interest rates applied to income-contingent student loans on the total level of graduate debt.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department does not hold analysis on the impact of interest rates on total level of graduate debt.

No Plan 5 borrower should see their loan balance grow in real terms without additional outlay, as the rate of interest for Plan 5 loans is applied at Retail Price Index (RPI) only.

Plan 2 loan interest rates are applied at RPI only, then variable up to RPI+3% depending on earnings. Interest rates do not impact monthly repayments made by student loan borrowers, which stay at a constant rate of 9% above an earnings threshold to protect lower earners.

Outstanding debt, including interest accrued, is cancelled at the end of the loan term with no detriment to the borrower, and debt is never passed on to family members or descendants. There are no commercial loans that offer this level of borrower protection. This is a deliberate government investment in students and the economy.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of freezing the income repayment threshold for Plan 2 student loans on the level of disposable income of graduates earning between £29,000 and £40,000 per year.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Plan 2 student loans were designed and implemented by previous governments, and students in England starting degrees under this government have different arrangements. Threshold freezes have been introduced to protect taxpayers and students now, alongside future generations of learners and workers.

Student loan repayments are linked to income, not to the amount borrowed or interest applied. As repayments remain income-contingent if a borrower’s salary remains the same, their monthly repayments will also stay the same.

Repayments are made at a constant rate of 9% above the earnings threshold. Borrowers earning under the earnings threshold, are not required to make repayments. Any outstanding loan including interest built up, is cancelled at the end of the loan term with no detriment to the borrower, and debt is never passed on to family members or descendants.

The government appreciates that making student loan repayments has an impact on individuals, and this is why there are unique protections for borrowers and the finance system is heavily subsidised by taxpayers.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of increased student loan balances on graduates’ access to mortgages and savings.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The size of one’s outstanding student loan is not a barrier to accessing a mortgage and savings. Student loan balances do not appear on borrower credit records, meaning the total size of the student loan debt is not considered in a borrower mortgage application. Monthly student loan repayments will be considered alongside other living costs as part of the affordability check for mortgage applications in the same way as any other fixed monthly outgoings, but monthly repayments are not linked to the size of the outstanding loan.

Student loan repayments are linked to income, not to the amount borrowed or interest applied. Repayments are made at a constant rate of 9% above the earnings threshold. Borrowers earning under the earnings threshold, are not required to make repayments. Any outstanding loan including interest built up, is cancelled at the end of the loan term with no detriment to the borrower, and debt is never passed on to family members or descendants.

The government appreciates that making student loan repayments has an impact on individuals, and this is why there are unique protections for borrowers and the finance system is heavily subsidised by taxpayers.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of current levels of investment in wastewater infrastructure.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

A record £104 billion of private sector investment has been secured to accelerate the cleaning up of our rivers, lakes and seas. This includes over £10 billion to improve nearly 2,500 storm overflows in England over the next five years. We will move to a system where assets are properly maintained and develop forward-looking asset health metrics to ensure this critical infrastructure gets the funding it needs.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help improve coordination between Ofwat, the Environment Agency and the Drinking Water Inspectorate in regulating water and sewerage undertakers.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra is working closely with the existing regulators, including Ofwat, the Environment Agency and the Drinking Water Inspectorate, to strengthen coordination across the regulatory system. This includes supporting the regulators in their work to actively join up and improve coordination, championing a ‘one organisation’ approach on key areas of delivery ahead of establishment of the new single regulator. This will simplify the requirements of water companies, reduce duplication and deliver better regulation for improved outcomes across the entire water system.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what safeguards are in place to prevent conflicts of interest arising between regulators of the water sector and the water and sewerage undertakers they regulate.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Environment Agency (EA) and Ofwat have robust safeguards in place to prevent conflicts of interest between regulators and the water and sewerage companies they oversee.

All EA employees, contractors and temporary workers must submit an annual declaration of interests, including a nil return where no interests are held. Declarations cover all aspects of an individual’s role and are reviewed by managers, who must identify any actual or potential conflicts and put appropriate mitigation measures in place where necessary.

Ofwat’s conflict of interest arrangements are based on wider Civil Service standards. Staff must declare any actual or potential conflicts on appointment, annually, and as they arise, including during procurement and recruitment, with all declarations recorded in a central register. Conflicts are managed on a proportionate, case-by-case basis, supported by strict rules on financial interests, controls on confidential information, and senior management oversight. Business Appointment Rules may also apply when staff leave Ofwat.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of (a) the average outstanding student loan balance and (b) the proportion of borrowers currently making repayments in (i) Merseyside and (ii) the North West of England.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The average outstanding student loan balance of borrowers in the North West government region who have been funded by Student Finance England was £37,000 (rounded to the nearest thousand) on 15 March 2025. This includes all loans, even those not yet liable to repay. The proportion of borrowers currently residing in the North West government region who have been funded by Student Finance England and made at least one repayment in this financial year is 46.8%.

The department does not hold student loan data for Merseyside specifically, as it is not a defined statistical geography in our datasets. Therefore, figures can only be provided at North West regional level.

Please note published national data provides the picture of borrowers’ repayment and employment status on 31 March 2025 and differs to the proportion who have made a repayment in the last year.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of borrowers on Plan 2 student loans whose outstanding balance is projected to increase for at least the first ten years of repayment due to interest accrual exceeding annual repayments.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department does not hold analysis of the proportion of borrowers whose loan is projected to increase in their first ten years of repayment.

Student loan repayments are linked to income, not to the amount borrowed or interest applied. As repayments remain income-contingent if a borrower’s salary remains the same, their monthly repayments will also stay the same. Repayments are made at a constant rate of 9% above the earnings threshold, and the 9% rate strikes a balance between affordability for graduates and fairness to taxpayers.

Outstanding debt, including interest built up, is cancelled at the end of the loan term with no detriment to the borrower, and debt is never passed on to family members or descendants. This is a deliberate government investment in students and the economy.

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