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Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

Water sector regulation

Status: Closed Opened: 26 Mar 2025 Closed: 22 Sep 2025 2 recommendations 28 conclusions 1 report

England and Wales’ supply of clean drinking water is managed by sixteen privately-owned companies. These companies are expecting to spend at least £272bn over the next 25 years to meet significant supply and environmental challenges faced by the sector. The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) oversees water policy, while Ofwat, the Environment …

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
42nd Report - Water sector regulation HC 824 18 Jul 2025 30 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

1 item
3 Conclusion 42nd Report - Water sector regulation Deferred

Publish monthly list of housing and commercial developments delayed or blocked by Environment Agency

Defra and the Environment Agency have been far too slow in planning for the future and this now hinders economic growth. Recommendations this Committee made to Defra five years ago around accelerating the pace of investment have not been acted on, which has proved to be shortsighted. Water companies now …

Government response. The government agreed with the recommendation, stating that the Environment Agency (EA) already monitors and enforces compliance with discharge permits. However, it did not commit to the specific requests for the EA to write to the Committee or publish a …
HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session
Date Witnesses
9 Jun 2025 Dame Tamara Finkelstein DBE · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, David Black · Ofwat, David Henderson · Water UK, David Hill · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Dr Mike Keil · Consumer Council for Water, John Earwaker · First Economics, Philip Duffy · Environment Agency View ↗

Correspondence

4 letters
DateDirectionTitle
27 Apr 2026 To cttee Letter from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and OFWA…
2 Feb 2026 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and…
1 Dec 2025 To cttee Letter from the Chair to the Permanent Secretary at the Department for the Envi…
16 Jun 2025 From cttee Letter to the Chair of the Independent Water Commission relating to the regulat…