Polluting water bosses will finally face the full force of the law, writes Steve Reed

21 May 2025, 09:13

By Steve Reed

Under the Conservatives, lawbreaking water companies got away with their crimes.

Water companies have acted as if the rules don’t apply to them. They have acted as if they have carte blanche to poison our watercourses, which are loved by so many, with impunity.

With this Labour Government, this will change.

As part of our Plan for Change to secure a better future for Britain, I am spearheading the biggest increase in legal action against water companies in history – which could put law-breaking bosses behind bars.

We have cracked down hard on water companies since July last year. The number of spot checks carried out by the Environment Agency into sewage pollution has tripled, exposing widespread and egregious lawbreaking.

Through these inspections, we are making sure water companies who break the law face the full force of the law.

Today, we announce that a record 81 criminal investigations have been launched into water companies in England during the last nine months, a surge of 145% a month since the election.

If they are found to have committed criminal acts, water bosses could be jailed for five years and water companies fined hundreds of millions of pounds.

These penalties act as a powerful deterrent and a fitting punishment.

And we won’t dither or delay in seeking justice for those who have poisoned our waterways.

Seven cases against water companies are already going to court during the next few months as a result of criminal investigations.

The threat of time behind bars or a hefty fine will ensure water bosses’ minds are focused on cleaning up our rivers, lakes and seas, rather than lining their own pockets with bonuses they didn’t deserve.

Thanks to new powers in our landmark Water (Special Measures) Act, executives who block investigations by the authorities can now be imprisoned.

Those same new laws also allow Ofwat to ban the payment of unfair bonuses to polluting water bosses. Failure cannot be rewarded.

This has never happened before, but it is no gimmick. We are working tirelessly to clean up our waterways and we issue this warning to water company bosses: there are consequences if you commit a crime.

And it doesn’t stop there. To fix the broken sewage pipes causing these issues, water companies will invest a record £104 billion to cut sewage discharges by nearly half in just five years.

This Government inherited a broken water system where water companies got away with pumping record levels of sewage into our waterways – a scandal and a stain on our nation.

Now, water companies who break the law will finally be punished for their disgraceful behaviour so we can clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.

________________

Steve Reed is the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

LBC Opinion provides a platform for diverse opinions on current affairs and matters of public interest.

The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official LBC position.

To contact us email opinion@lbc.co.uk