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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the report entitled Independent Water Commission: review of the water sector, updated on 29 July 2025, what progress her Department has made on responding to the recommendations in that report.

The Government has already responded to a number of Sir Jon’s recommendations, as set out in the statement made by the previous Secretary of State on 21 July.  This set out the Government’s intention to establish a single regulator for water, to include a regional element within the new regulator, to establish a new statutory water ombudsman, to end operator self-monitoring and transition to Open Monitoring, and to issue an interim Strategic Policy Statement to Ofwat and give Ministerial directions to the Environment Agency, setting out our expectations and requirements.

The Government will respond to the recommendations in full via a White Paper, published later this year. The White Paper will outline the Government’s vision for the future of the water sector, marking the most fundamental reset to our water system in a generation. Following this, we plan to introduce a new water reform bill, bringing forward root and branch reform to secure better outcomes for customers, investors, and the environment.