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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made any assessment of the adequacy of push-fit MDPE water supply piping standards in preventing water leaks in the public water supply network.

The Government is committed to urgent action to improve water efficiency and reduce water company leaks, alongside delivering new supply infrastructure. including new reservoirs and water transfers.

Water company Water Resources Management Plans show how companies will close the predicted supply-demand gap, with demand management, including leakage reduction and new water resources infrastructure. The Government has set an interim target to reduce leakage by 30% by 2032, and water companies have committed to halve leakage by 2050.

The Environment Agency has published a summary of water companies’ delivery of their WRMPs, including leakage levels for the 2024/25 period: Water resources 2024 to 2025: analysis of the water industry’s annual water resources performance - GOV.UK