To ask His Majesty's Government, given their increasing debts, what steps they are taking to ensure UK water companies fulfil their legal duty (1) to provide clean water to customers, and (2) to treat their sewage.
Answered on
6 July 2023
Water companies have statutory responsibility under the Water Industry Act 1991, and associated water quality regulations, for sourcing, treating, and transporting water to customers. Water and sewerage companies also have responsibility for removing and treating wastewater before discharging to the environment.
The Government has set out our growth ambitions for the water sector in our Strategic Policy Statement and Integrated Plan for Water, and in August last year we launched the storm overflows plan which will secure £56 billion capital investment by 2025.
Ofwat, as the independent economic regulator, protects the interests of consumers by making sure water companies carry out their statutory functions and are financially resilient, as well as holding them to account on performance and the delivery of essential services for customers.