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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what strategy her Department has to improve the resilience of water infrastructure in Buckinghamshire.

Water companies have a statutory duty to provide a secure supply of water for customers and set out how they plan to continue to supply water to their customers through statutory Water Resources Management Plans (WRMPs). These plans must demonstrate how they will achieve a secure supply of water whilst protecting the environment over a minimum 25-year period. The Environment Agency (EA) assesses how companies perform against their published plans annually in July and advises the Secretary of State. Water companies must also produce Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans (DWMP), setting out how they will ensure robust drainage and sewerage services over a 25-year period.

The WRMPs and DWMPs will demonstrate where and when investment will be needed to support the Government’s growth agenda and to ensure infrastructure is fit for purpose now and in the future.

The EA has strengthened its water industry regulation with new dedicated regulation and enforcement teams. The EA has increased inspections of water company wastewater assets and completed over 4,600 last year and is on track to deliver 10,000 this year. The EA’s Thames and East Anglia Areas have completed over 1500 inspections since April 2025.