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Water (Special Measures) Bill [HL]: HL Bill 17 of 2024–25

Approximate read time: 25 minutes

The Water (Special Measures) Bill [HL] is a government bill introduced in the House of Lords on 4 September 2024. It is scheduled to have its second reading on 9 October 2024. The bill would make changes to the regulation of private water companies that provide water and sewerage services in England and Wales. The Labour government has said the bill would achieve its manifesto commitment to enable regulators to block the payment of bonuses to the executives of water companies that fail to protect the environment by allowing the UK’s waterways to be polluted by sewage. It has also said the bill would ensure those responsible for repeatedly breaking the law face criminal charges. 

The bill includes provisions to: 

• enable the Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat) to block the payment of bonuses to chief executives and directors if water companies fail to meet specific standards
• establish new statutory requirements for water companies to publish annual pollution incident reduction plans and provide timely and accessible information on sewage discharges from emergency overflows
• change the maximum sentence available for impeding investigations by regulators to include imprisonment
• enable the introduction of new automatic penalties for offences committed by water companies and give regulators (Ofwat, the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales and the Drinking Water Inspectorate) new powers to recover costs for their enforcement work
• make changes to the special administration regime for water companies to ensure Ofwat and government ministers are notified ahead of any winding up petitions 

Alongside the bill, the government published explanatory notes, a delegated powers memorandum and a policy statement on the bill. It has not published an impact assessment.