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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of Ofwat's enforcement powers in relation to water companies.

Last year, Ofwat levied penalties of £132 million against 11 water companies, which is being refunded to customers this year. Additionally, Ofwat has also opened a major enforcement investigation into 6 water companies regarding their compliance at sewage treatment works.

The Government has backed steps to strengthen Ofwat’s enforcement powers. In March 2023, Ofwat were able to strengthen its ability to stop water companies making dividend payments if the company’s financial resilience is at risk thanks to powers provided in the Environment Act 2021. This also enables Ofwat to take enforcement action against companies that don’t link dividend payments to their performance for customers or the environment, or those failing to be transparent about their dividend pay-outs.

Furthermore, in May this year government trebled Ofwat’s enforcement capacity with an additional £11.3m increase in funding.