The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee has sharply criticised the Government for “disappointing” responses to the recent PAC report on water regulation.

Upcoming changes to pollution reporting will affect how Ofwat measures water companies’ performance from January 2026 - the regulator has launched a new consultation on proposals to change how it measures in response to significant changes in how the Environment Agency (EA) and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) record pollution incidents.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) continues to strengthen its regulation of the water industry in Wales, as data from its annual Environmental Performance Assessment report shows another year of disappointing results for Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water.

The Environment Agency (EA) is once again calling on the nine water and wastewater companies in England to urgently improve their performance as the latest Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) for 2024 reveals the lowest ratings since the process began in 2011.

The Environment Agency is pushing water companies to strengthen their efforts to improve the environment by tightening up the way it ranks and tracks their performance - from 2027, the EA’s annual Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) reporting will look different.

Over £10 million in water company fines has been channelled through the Water Restoration Fund into cleanup projects to repair the damage done by sewage, benefitting communities and the environment which have been harmed by rule breaking. 

The Environment Agency (EA) has launched a new whistleblowing portal to make it easier for internal water company whistleblowers to safely report serious environmental wrongdoing by their water companies.

Thames Water has launched a online tool and new interactive map for members of the public to report and pinpoint locations experiencing operational issues across London and the Thames Valley.

Environment Agency Chair Alan Lovell has described the performance of many of the 9 English water and sewerage companies for 2022 as "very disappointing with minimal improvement in star ratings compared to 2021.". 

Poole Harbour Commissioners has reported that work is underway to tackle a major pollution incident at Owers Bay in Poole Harbour yesterday resulting from a leak from a pipeline operated by Perenco.