With all the main parties having now published their manifestos, what are the priorities and what do they have to say about water regulation, industry reform?
- Put water companies into ‘special measures’. Although there is no detail on what these measures might be, they could include
- Giving new powers to regulators to block water bosses’ bonuses for pollution
- Introducing criminal charges for persistent law-breaking and automatic fines for ‘wrongdoing’.
- Independent monitoring of storm overflows.
- Replace Ofwat with a new regulator, the Clean Water Authority, with powers to revoke the licences of poorly performing water firms, ban bonuses for water bosses until leaks and discharges end, and to accelerate legally binding targets on sewage discharges.
- Transform water companies into ‘public benefit companies’ with reformed governance structures including representation of local environmental groups on company boards
- Introduce a ‘Sewage Tax’ on water company profits
- Improve water quality monitoring
- Introduce a single social tariff in the next Parliament to address water poverty
- Create a new ‘blue corridor’ programme for rivers, streams and lakes and set new ‘blue flag’ standards
- Implement Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act to require sustainable drainage systems in new developments.
- Continue with its current Plan for Water, but with some new additions, including
- A bonus ban for bosses whose companies are found guilty of serious criminal breaches
- The creation of a new River Recovery Network funded by water company fines
- Moving to catchment-based, outcome-focused regulation.
- Continue providing a £50 water rebate for South West Water customers.
- Bring water back into public ownership
- An immediate end to the emergency authorisation of bee-killing pesticides.
- Extend people’s access to green space and waterways close to where they live with a new English Right to Roam Act.
- Create a new ownership model for critical national infrastructure, to bring 50% of each utility into public hands, with the other 50% owned by UK pension funds.
- Build reservoirs
- Stop sewage spills
- Scrap climate-related farming subsidies
- Scrap all net zero related objectives