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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he expects Ofwat to instruct water companies to expedite the repairing and replacement of their pipe networks.

Through our Strategic Policy Statement for Ofwat (SPS), Government has been clear about its expectations for water company action to renew and replace the water network. Our SPS sets out an expectation that Ofwat will promote good asset management and challenge companies to better understand the health of their assets and adopt a strategic and long-term approach.