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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of requiring Ofwat to monitor climate adaptation and mitigation requirements for water companies.

Under section 2 of The Water Industry Act 1991, Ofwat must carry out their statutory duties to further their resilience objectives: to secure the long-term resilience of water companies’ water supply and wastewater systems; and to secure that they take steps to enable them, in the long-term, to meet the need for water supplies and wastewater services.

Published on 11 July, Ofwat’s draft determinations on water company investment from 2025-30 included a total expenditure of £88bn across the sector, including £6bn for climate adaptation measures such as securing water supplies, progressing 9 new reservoirs and developing 7 large-scale water transfer schemes.