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.

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.