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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her policy is on Ofwat considering (a) measures to reduce reliance on single sources of water supply and (b) long-term asset health and resilience in future price determinations.

The Government is committed to increasing our water supply while protecting the environment and public health. We are taking a twin track approach to improving water supply resilience. This involves urgent action to reduce water company leaks and use drinking water and rainwater more efficiently, alongside new supply infrastructure, including new reservoirs and water transfers.

In the Water White Paper, the government set out our commitment to developing statutory resilience standards, which will be brought forward through the Clean Water Bill announced in the King’s Speech. These standards will ensure companies secure the long-term resilience of their water supply and sewerage systems.

Alongside the development of forward-looking asset health metrics to ensure critical infrastructure gets the funding that it needs, these standards will safeguard customer services in the context of a changing climate as well as population growth and other pressures.