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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, State what assessment she has made of the potential environmental impact of Thames Water’s decision to defer upgrades at sewage treatment works impacting the River Kennet, Pang, and Lambourn until 2030.

The Environment Agency (EA) is clear that delays to any water company schemes, required under the Water Industry National Environment Programme are unacceptable as they will delay environmental improvement and risk failure of statutory requirements.

The EA is issuing new environmental permits in line with regulatory deadlines and is assessing compliance against these. The EA has completed inspections of sewage treatment works on the Rivers Kennet, Pang and Lambourn as part of its increased programme of inspecting over 800 Thames Water wastewater assets since April 2025.

Any permit breaches identified are assessed on a case-by-case basis for their environmental impact. Any confirmed serious permit breaches will be investigated and enforced against in line with the EA’s Enforcement and Sanctions Policy.