Having clean water is important to everyone in the UK, especially for coastal communities such as ours. Whether you are wanting to go into the sea on a sunny afternoon or running a business that relies on tourism – when our waters are polluted it affects us all.
That is why, this week, I have chosen to write my column on the final report of the Independent Commission on the water sector regulatory system, which was published by Sir Jon Cunliffe on 21st July. The highly anticipated report has made significant recommendations and, if implemented by this Government, will mark the largest reform since 1989.
To give some context on this report, Labour came into power promising sweeping reforms to ‘fix our water system’. But mostly they have offered only copy and paste policies that were started by the last Conservative Government.
Earlier this week, and ahead of the independent report, Labour announced that the Government had committed to a 50% reduction in sewage releases by 2030, but unbelievably this pledge is against 2024 levels.
In contrast, the previous Conservative Government’s plan was a 45% reduction from 2021 levels - a tougher reference base. That means Labour will allow more sewage spills by 2030 than before - 20,000 of them. I don’t remember that being on any of their election leaflets. We see again that problems Labour said were easy to fix in opposition are being made worse now that they are in power.
The recommendation that has caught the most attention is the call for a single integrated water regulator in England. It suggests that England should have a new integrated regulator that would replace Ofwat, the Drinking Water Inspectorate, and the Environment Agency’s water responsibilities and operate as a single organisation. The Government have already announced that they will be following this recommendation, but so far there is no clear plan on what this would actually look like in practice.
The report calls for a cross-sector strategy on water, which would have a clear set of national priorities covering the water industry, agriculture, land-use, energy, transport and housing development. And to ensure that national priorities are properly implemented locally, the report recommends that 8 regional bodies be established across England. These would have plans specific to the local area and be empowered to implement policies guided by the overall national strategy.
We really do need a comprehensive strategy looking at all areas. One of the most important things I’ve learned is that, contrary to popular belief, water companies are not the main reason behind warnings about the safety of swimming along our seafront. In fact, contaminated surface water, agricultural runoff, and illegal connections pose more significant challenges to improving bathing water quality in Bexhill. Given the media and social media coverage, it’s easy to assume water companies are solely to blame—but the reality is more complex.
Overall, this report gives a lot of ideas on how to reform the water sector. But Labour’s efforts so far show nothing original. The Government must present a clear and credible plan to reform the water sector – one that keeps bills low for consumers and avoids the piecemeal, ineffective approach Labour have taken in the past.
