Image description: A protest march with people holding placards. A man’s t-shirt reads “don’t poison our water”. Image by the Climate Reality Project.
The government says it has overseen a large increase in criminal investigations into water companies for alleged breaches of environmental law.
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), in collaboration with the Environment Agency (EA) and spearheaded by Environment Secretary, Steve Reed OBE MP, has launched a record 81 criminal investigations into water companies in England as part of a crackdown on sewage dumping. Two of Britain’s biggest water companies, Thames Water and Anglian Water, face more than 50 criminal investigations between them. The government claims this initiative represents the largest criminal action against water companies in history, with inspections into sewage pollution increasing by nearly 400% since July 2024.
The Environment Agency has hired 380 extra regulatory staff to carry out inspections and other enforcement activity. New powers to claw back the costs of the Environment Agency investigations will be used, meaning the “polluter will pay”, sources told the Guardian. Sources in the environment department said that they had directed the Environment Agency to take robust action and hoped to see water executives in court in coming months. After these investigations, water bosses could be jailed for two years and water companies fined hundreds of millions of pounds.
Anglian Water handed ‘record’ fine
Anglian Water has been fined a record £1.42m after failures led to flakes and powder entering people’s drinking water. The BBC reports about 1.3m people in the East of England were affected by the negligence between June and December 2021.
The water provider admitted five offences under the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2016 and was sentenced at Northampton Crown Court. Anglian Water was investigated by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI), which found it had “poor oversight” of its supply chain and a lack of staff training. The company, which apologised for the issues, also supplies customers in Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Rutland.
It repeatedly used unapproved plastic-based products to coat pipework submerged within water tanks. These coatings later broke down into flakes and powder that entered the water supply.
Welcomed with scepticism
Some campaign groups reportedly remain sceptical over the Government’s action, warning that jail time for individuals is “highly unlikely”, and that prosecutions can take years to come about. They have also raised concerns about potential spending cuts in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s review next month.
James Wallace, the chief executive of River Action, said: “Criminal investigations are welcome, but regulators need urgent access to courts and if the upcoming spending review slashes Environment Agency funding, how will it sustain the level of enforcement needed to hold polluters to account – from water companies to factory farms? Tough talk needs backing with real resources.”
Concerns of Water Watchdog’s conflict of interest
Meanwhile, the Times has reported that Seema Kennedy, a former Conservative minister and director of England’s water regulator, is also the executive director of a group that is trying to tighten the funding rules for class action lawsuits and end what it calls the “predatory claims culture”.
Critics have claimed that her role represents a conflict of interest amid a continuing legal battle between consumers and five of Britain’s largest water companies over untreated sewage. Kennedy is also a paid senior adviser to the lobbying firm Global Counsel, which works for the industry body that represents all the UK’s big water companies. Global Counsel has also previously carried out work for the anti-class action campaign.
Government rules state that directors of public bodies must ensure that “no conflict arises, or could reasonably be perceived to arise, between your public duties and your private interests, financial or otherwise”. In a statement Kennedy said there was “no conflict” with her position at Ofwat and other paid roles.