Water companies face 10-fold increase in asset inspections

The Environment Agency has vowed to increase the number of water company asset inspections it carries out annually from 930 to 10,000 by 2026.

The organisation previously came under fire for being unable to properly regulate companies after successive budget cuts forced it to slash staff numbers.

It will add 500 new workers dedicated to inspecting water and wastewater company assets to protect the health of rivers and seas.

Inspections, enforcement activity and monitoring will all increase as the agency grows its staffing numbers as part of government’s efforts to strengthen water regulation. The increases will be funded by recently announced price hikes for discharge permits.

Chair of the organisation, Alan Lovell, explained the measures build on ongoing work to transform how the Agency regulates the water sector.

“Campaign groups and the public want to see the Environment Agency better resourced to do what it does best, regulate for a better environment,” he said. “Proposals to get extra boots on the ground to increase inspection visits will help further strengthen our regulation of the industry.”

Recruitment is underway to complete additional inspections with 4,000 to be undertaken annually by 2025 before hitting 10,000 by 2026.

The organisation said it has already ramped up inspections to 930 this financial year. In 2022-23 it had a target of 500 visits, which it overshot with 803 completed inspections at water company assets. There are more than 15,000 storm overflows in England and Wales and around 9,000 wastewater treatment plants in the UK.

“We are clear that we need to get much tougher with unannounced inspections to bring an end to the routine lawbreaking we have seen from water companies, which is what this announcement will deliver,” said Steve Barclay, environment secretary.

The regulator has said data-driven analytics will help it to map discharges to identify any non-compliance more effectively. It was called out for lacking the requisite skills in-house to properly analyse data from storm overflow and other monitoring equipment after budgetary cuts left it unable to invest in staff and resourcing.

The Agency also regulates farming and agricultural land use, in which inspections have dwindled in this area also. In 2022-23, 4,137 inspections were completed of the more than 200,000 holdings in England.

Over the past year, government has unveiled its tactics to strengthen regulation including unlimited pollution fines and a block on bonuses for bosses of companies found guilty of harming the environment.