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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of increases in household water charges on water company performance in reducing (a) sewage discharges, (b) leakage rates and (c) pollution incidents; and whether she plans to review the effectiveness of Ofwat's regulatory framework.

Ofwat’s 2024 Price Review provided companies with a record £104 billion of investment, from investors, efficiency savings and bills, funding nearly 3,000 storm overflow improvements, upgrades to more than 1,700 wastewater treatment works and protecting 15,000km of rivers.

Companies failing to meet commitments will face consequences, including returning money to customers so they do not pay for poor performance.

The Government has set out plans to reform the sector and establish a single water regulator which will deliver enhanced accountability for improvement of the water system and take a ‘whole firm’ view of water company performance.