Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs written question – answered at on 13 February 2026.
Lisa Smart
Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Cabinet Office)
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to analyse the forthcoming annual sewage discharge data to identify differences in company performance before and after the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025 came into force.
Emma Hardy
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Pollution incidents from the activities of the water industry are unacceptable and can have a devastating impact on our environment. The water industry must do more to reduce pollution and protect our rivers, lakes and seas.
As part of the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025, a new duty has been created on water and sewerage undertakers in England and Wales, to produce annual Pollution Incident Reduction Plans (PIRPs).
These statutory plans require water and sewerage undertakers to report on the number and severity of pollution incidents attributable to their networks over the last calendar year and propose actions to reduce that number in the next year.
The first statutory PIRP will be published by 1 April 2026.
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
