The House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee will continue its inquiry on the work of Ofwat, the UK’s water regulator, by taking evidence from three CEOs at UK water companies from 10.30am on Tuesday 18 October.

Sir James Bevan, CEO at the Environment Agency, has told the House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee that “population growth, climate change and public awareness have led us to where we are” with regard to ongoing problems with storm overflow sewage discharges.

Ofwat has written to wastewater company chief executives saying that more work is needed on their draft Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans (DWMPs) submitted to the regulator in June, including further development of their proposals for reducing combined sewer overflow (CSO) discharges.

Environmental charity Thames21 is calling for the government to make an immediate decision on banning plastic in wet wipes in order to help tackle this sewage-based pollution ending up in the River Thames.

The House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee will continue its inquiry on the work of Ofwat, the UK’s water regulator, by taking evidence from Environment Agency CEO Sir James Bevan and the Agency’s Chair, Alan Lovell, from 10.30am on Tuesday 11 October.

Aileen Armstrong, Senior Director, Company Performance and Price Controls at Ofwat, is warning that current concerns and headlines in the media about the UK water sector are not going to go away without real change and that the pressure is only going to intensify over the coming months.

Environment Secretary Ranil Jayawardena MP has announced that he will bring forward proposals to raise the civil penalty for water companies who pollute the environment by 1,000-fold - from £250,000 to up to £250 million.

Water sector regulator Ofwat has today announced that most water companies will be hit by financial penalties because of missed targets - overall, almost £150 million in total will be taken off customers' bills in the next financial year at 11 companies.

The Competition and Markets Authority has just announced that it is investigating the anticipated acquisition by the overseas investors consortium of Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (Europe) Ltd and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation of a 60% shareholding in the gas transmission and gas metering business of National Grid Gas plc.

Ofwat has launched a new consultation on proposals for water companies to trial creative and targeted ways in calculating customers’ charges to help make sure those who need support can get it.