Government says water company investigations have increased

The government says it has overseen a large increase in criminal investigations into water companies for alleged breaches of environmental law.

It said in a statement the Environment Agency was looking at dozens of alleged offences which included releasing excessive pollution and not carrying out adequate water quality monitoring.

The government said the regulator had launched 81 criminal probes since last July’s election after hiring 400 more staff for the purpose and that it had initiated proceedings against seven companies.

Water UK, which represents water companies, said in a statement that firms should be investigated and held to account when necessary.

The announcement comes amid public anger over pollution in rivers and seas. The number of pollution incidents recorded by water companies in England is at a 10-year high, according to data released by campaigners last month.

The increase in Environment Agency inspectors is partly due to a recruitment drive from the previous Conservative government.

In February 2024 the Conservatives said they planned to quadruple water inspections and hire an additional 500 staff for inspections and enforcement.

None of the 81 investigations have so far led to convictions, which often take years to work their way through the court systems. But the government said they could lead to water companies being fined hundreds of millions of pounds.

“This Labour Government is cleaning up the foul mess the Tories left behind with a record number of criminal investigations into law-breaking water companies – which could see bosses behind bars,” said Environment Secretary Steve Reed.

The Conservative Party defended its record in response, with a spokesman saying that while it was in government it had begun the process of reforming water and sewage systems and taken action to ban bonuses for bosses of water companies that committed criminal breaches.

“The Labour Government made big promises on water, and we will continue to hold them to account to ensure they continue the work of the previous Conservative Government to improve our water and sewage systems for billpayers,” the spokesman said.

“It’s good to see the Government finally taking water pollution seriously,” said CEO of campaigners River Action, James Wallace.

But he pointed out that water bosses could only serve jail time for obstructing investigations, not for pollution itself.

“Jail time for water bosses remains highly unlikely,” he said. “The law only applies to cover-ups — and there’s no need to hide what’s already happening in plain sight, week in, week out.”

Southern Water was hit with a record £126m punishment in 2019 for spills of wastewater into the environment from its sewage plants and for deliberately misreporting its performance.

Greenpeace UK head of politics Ami McCarthy said: “Water firms have got away with flouting rules and pumping sewage into our rivers for far too long, so it’s good to see ministers finally throwing the book at these serial polluters.”

She also urged the government to ensure that consumers did not foot the bill of any fines issued to water companies.

“It is right that water companies are investigated and held to account when things go wrong,” Water UK said in a statement.

“Almost 99% of sewage and water treatment works meet their [pollution limit] permits and we are focused on getting to 100%.”