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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on prosecutions for non-compliance by (a) water and (b) sewerage companies at wastewater treatment works.

The Government is clear that water companies will not be allowed to get away with illegal activity. Where breaches are identified, the regulators will not hesitate to take robust enforcement action.

Since 2015, the Environment Agency have concluded 59 prosecutions against water and sewerage companies including a record £90 million fine for Southern Water in 2021.

Furthermore, the EA can now use new powers to impose unlimited penalties for a wider range of offences following Government’s changes to broaden of the scope of the existing civil sanctions regime and remove the previous cap on penalties.

In addition, the Environment Agency and Ofwat have launched the largest criminal and civil investigations into water and sewerage companies sewage discharges ever, at over 2200 treatment works, following new data coming to light as a result of increased monitoring.