Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her department has set a date by which it aims to have ended operator self-monitoring in the water industry.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Government has committed to ending ‘operator self-monitoring’ so water companies will no longer mark their own homework on pollution incidents.

We will develop a new strengthened open monitoring approach for monitoring wastewater. This will be driven by greater digitisation and automation, making data accessible to the public in near-real time, and helping to restore public trust in the system.

Water companies are already required to publish data on some sewage spills within one hour. We will roll out real-time monitoring across the wastewater system, and all this data will be made publicly available online. That will ensure that the regulator and, importantly, the public have the power to hold water companies fully accountable.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many meetings she has had with FTI consulting in which discussions took place regarding placing Thames Water into a Special Administration Regime.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Officials from Defra continue to meet with FTI Consulting to ensure that this Government is fully prepared for all eventualities, whist working with Ofwat to help support a market-led solution to the company’s issues of financial resilience and operational delivery.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has undertaken an analysis to assess whether using Regulated Capital Value to measure water company values provides the most accurate measure of their value since July 2024.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 24 March 2026 to PQ UIN 120291.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what criteria her department used in its decision to aim to conduct 10,000 water company asset inspections by April 2026.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Environment Agency (EA) increased its capacity for inspections of water company assets, with over 4,000 inspections completed from April 2024 to March 2025.

In April 2025 the EA increased its target for inspections to a further 10,000 in 2025/26 as part of the Governments wider focus to hold companies to account and improve out water environment. As of 31 March, the EA has successfully achieved this target – further details can be found here.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish the most recent legal advice her Department has been given with regards to initiating a Special Administration procedure for Thames Water.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

It is a longstanding principle that Government does not comment on or publish legal advice.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish the most recent advice that FTI Consulting have given the Department on placing Thames Water into a Special Administration Regime.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Any advice received from FTI Consulting in this context would be commercially sensitive, and it would not be appropriate to publish it.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to undertake a cost-benefit analysis of the (a) financial and (b) non-financial costs to the public between the privatised model and public ownership of the water industry over (i) the rest of PR24 and (ii) over the following 30 years.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government has no intention to nationalise the water industry, and therefore has no current plans to asses the financial or non-financial costs to the public between the privatised model and public ownership of the water industry.

The Independent Water Commission found no strong evidence between ownership model and performance. We are moving forward with fixing our water system, creating a powerful new water regulator to hold companies to account and prevent the abuses of the past.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, since 27 March 2020, how many offences relating to discharge of sewage from a water company asset have the Environment Agency prosecuted.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Since 27 March 2020, there have been 37 completed prosecutions against Water and Sewerage Companies. A water quality prosecution is any criminal proceedings relating to a failure to properly manage water or sewage treatment.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many prosecutions the Environment Agency has completed against Water and Sewerage Companies for offences that have taken place since 27 March 2020.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Since 27 March 2020, there have been 37 completed prosecutions against Water and Sewerage Companies. A water quality prosecution is any criminal proceedings relating to a failure to properly manage water or sewage treatment.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to answer Written Parliamentary Question UIN 123113.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Written Parliamentary Question UIN 123113 was answered on 16 April 2026.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the principal statutory duties are of Thames Water Utilities Limited's licence.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Under section 37 of the Water Industry Act 1991 a water company has the duty to ensure the supply of water within its area of appointment and to develop and maintain an efficient and economical supply system for that purpose, as well as to ensure arrangements have been made for maintaining, improving and extending its water mains and other pipes.

In addition, under section 94 of the Water Industry Act 1991, a water company that also holds a sewerage appointment has the duty to effectually deal with the contents of sewers and provide the necessary infrastructure for that purpose.

All water and sewerage companies have the same statutory duties.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 21 April to Question 127788 on Water Companies: Prosecutions, of the 37 completed prosecutions against Water and Sewerage Companies since 27 March 2020, how many of these prosecutions were for offences that took place before 27 March 2020.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Of the 37 prosecutions since 27 March 2020, 32 prosecutions were for offences that took place before 27 March 2020, and 5 prosecutions were for offences that took place after 27 March 2020.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of to Question 122633, on Water Companies: Repairs and Maintenance, whether her Department will publish the initial cost information on ending operator self-monitoring that has been provided by the Environment Agency.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government has committed to ending Operator Self Monitoring. The Environment Agency has provided early, high‑level indicative cost estimates to support the Department’s initial exploration of options for future monitoring arrangements. These figures were produced to give a broad sense of potential scale only. Further work is now underway to develop and refine the policy options and to produce more detailed and robust costings.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to answer Written Parliamentary Question UIN 124051.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Written Parliamentary Question UIN 124051 was answered on 28 April 2026.

World Curlew Day

Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules (No. 2)

Found: Shrewsbury) Jonathan Davies (Labour; Mid Derbyshire) Carla Denyer (Green Party; Bristol Central) Barry Gardiner

Found: Shrewsbury) Jonathan Davies (Labour; Mid Derbyshire) Carla Denyer (Green Party; Bristol Central) Barry Gardiner

Found: Barry Gardiner: It has been about 20 years, hasn’t it?

Found: Shrewsbury) Jonathan Davies (Labour; Mid Derbyshire) Carla Denyer (Green Party; Bristol Central) Barry Gardiner

Found: Q121 Barry Gardiner: Tell us about pollinators and the impact on pollinators.

Found: meeting Members present: Mr Toby Perkins (Chair); Julia Buckley; Jonathan Davies; Carla Denyer; Barry Gardiner

Found: the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (PEA0004) In response to questions from Barry Gardiner

Submit Evidence (by 21 May 2026)

The Environmental Audit Committee is examining the role of HM Treasury in shaping the UK’s response to climate change, nature loss and wider environmental sustainability. The Government’s economic policy objective includes a commitment to “accelerate the transition to a climate resilient, nature positive and net zero economy”.[1]