The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee has this morning announced a follow-up evidence session on water quality and water infrastructure, taking place on Wednesday 15th May 2024.

In its evidence session, the Committee will consider what progress has been made since the Committee’s influential 2022 report on ‘Water quality in rivers’ which warned that poor water quality in English rivers is a result of chronic underinvestment and multiple failures in monitoring, governance and enforcement.

In its 2022 report, the Committee called a step change in regulatory action, in water company investment and in cross-catchment collaboration to restore rivers to good health and prevent further damage. MPs demanded far more assertive regulation and enforcement from Ofwat and the Environment Agency.

Several recommendations made in 2022 appear to have influenced Government and regulator policy. However, the EAC says questions remain about the level of progress the Government has made on water quality since.

The Committee will return to its recommendations, examining the ongoing role of the environmental and economic regulators in enforcing responsible behaviour by water companies and taking action against unpermitted sewage discharges.

Members of the Committee will want to examine whether current plans for investment in infrastructure improvements are adequate, timely and deliverable, and how permitted sewage discharges are being monitored.

Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, Philip Dunne MP, said:

“Since the 2022 report of the Committee’s major inquiry into water quality in rivers, and the regulatory changes which Government and Parliament made in the Environment Act, much has changed. Public concern about the health of the UK’s waterways has grown, such that this issue is now an important topic of political debate and the focus of several high-profile campaigns.

“As concern has risen, so has Government and regulator activity. Announcements made over the last few months include a consultation on 27 new inland bathing sites, a Water Restoration Fund funnelling water industry fines directly back into improvements, and an action plan for the River Wye.

“We are also soon expecting Ofwat decisions on the industry’s capital expenditure plans for 2025 to 2030, as some private sector water companies are understood to be facing significant pressures.

“With the end of the Parliament fast approaching, the Committee would like to take stock of the current position as the political parties put together their policy proposals on water for the electorate.

“I encourage any groups concerned about water quality and water infrastructure to submit written evidence, and I look forward to returning to a subject of such significance to me and the Committee and, increasingly, to the general public.”

The Environmental Audit Committee is one of a number of select committees of the House of Commons which play a key role in holding ministers to account.