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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has assessed the potential merits of a statutory mechanism similar to Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 for environmental damage overseen by senior officers of water companies.

The Government set out its new vision for water through a White Paper published on 20 January 2026.

To truly turn around the water sector we need the right people in to do the job. We want the sector to be attractive to high quality senior leaders, acting in the public interest, who can lead change from the top.

To achieve this, the Government committed in the White Paper to consider taking forward a new regime for senior accountability. This would be carefully designed to ensure senior leaders are directly accountable for the service customers receive, whilst still allowing water companies to appoint capable leadership.