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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential merits of using special administration measures to address governance and environmental compliance issues in the water sector.

A Special Administration Regime (SAR) enables a company which provides vital public services (e.g. water, energy, rail) to be put into administration in certain circumstances, to ensure that the public service will continue to be provided.

There is a high bar for the imposition of a Special Administration Regime. The law states that Special Administration can only be initiated if the company becomes insolvent, can no longer fulfil its statutory duties or seriously breaches an enforcement order.

Enforcement of governance and compliance issues fall within the remit of the regulators. There is a robust system of independent economic and environmental regulation for holding the water sector to account. It is of course right that we continue to look at the regulatory context, and where necessary, take action to strengthen the regulatory framework. This is why the Government has launched the Independent Water Commission, which will fundamentally transform how our water system works.