The Government has announced it will invest water company fines into local projects across the country to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas.
Over £100m in fines and penalties levied against water companies since October 2023, as well as future fines and penalties, will be reinvested into projects to clean up our waters which could include local programmes to address pollution and improve water quality.
When water companies breach their environmental permits – for example by releasing excessive pollution into a river – that is a criminal offence. The most serious cases, like illegal sewage spills, see water company fines issued and criminal prosecutions for water bosses.
A record 81 criminal investigations have been launched into water companies under this government as part of a new operation spearheaded by Environment Secretary Steve Reed.
Secretary of State Steve Reed said:
“We inherited a broken water system with record levels of sewage being pumped into waters.
“But the era of profiting from failure is over. A record 81 criminal investigations have been launched into water companies under this government and Ofwat recently announced the largest fine ever handed to a water company in history.
“This Government will invest money collected through fines into local projects to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.”
In response to the announcement, Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of The Rivers Trust said:
“Together with the rest of the environmental community, we have long been calling for the money from any fines relating to environmental harm to be spent on restoring that same environment. Today’s announcement that more than £100m of water company fines collected since October 2023 will be used to support environmental projects is therefore very welcome.
“We eagerly await the detail that the government has promised on how exactly the money will reach those who need it most and deliver the best environmental improvements on the ground. We also want confirmation that all future fines and penalties will be ringfenced for environmental projects, including fines levied against polluters from other industries, to restore the damage done to the environment.
“Polluters should be paying a contribution to the costs of fixing our rivers, rather than their fines disappearing into the Treasury, never to be seen again.”
