The Water Bill seeks to set targets and objectives relating to water policy, including proposals on the ownership of water companies, climate mitigation and adaptation, and the creation of a Commission on Water. The Commission would advise the Secretary of State and organise a citizens’ assembly on water ownership.
The Bill began its Second Reading in the House of Commons on 28 March 2025. However, without support from the Government, the debate was adjourned and, due to the limited time available for Private Members’ Bills, it is unlikely to return for further debate during this Parliamentary session. That said, the four-hour debate provided a useful opportunity for Parliament to examine the challenges facing the water sector, including pollution in our rivers and coastal waters.
Clean water and healthy rivers matter to communities across the country. They are national assets that should be properly protected. In recent years Parliament has already taken significant steps to strengthen environmental protections through the Environment Act 2021, which introduced legally binding long-term targets for water quality, air quality and biodiversity for the first time. Importantly, the Act places a duty on the Secretary of State to ensure these targets are met, meaning ministers must remain accountable to Parliament for progress.
In my view, the priority now is making sure those standards are enforced properly. Regulators must have the resolve to hold water companies to account where pollution occurs. The focus should be on practical action and real results, not simply creating new bodies or additional layers of process.
I also believe we must take a balanced approach that works with the people who manage and care for our countryside. Farmers, land managers and rural communities play an important role as stewards of the land, and environmental improvement is most effective when it works alongside a strong rural economy rather than against it.