<\/p>\n
Water companies could be let off fines for polluting the environment under changes announced in the government\u2019s new white paper.<\/p>\n
The environment secretary, Emma Reynolds, hailed the changes as \u201conce-in-a-generation reforms\u201d featuring \u201ctough oversight, real accountability and no more excuses\u201d.<\/p>\n
Campaigners called the proposed move to soften the approach to fines \u201cdesperate\u201d, and said the government was letting companies off the hook.<\/p>\n
Under the plans, there would be a new turnaround regime to force companies that are failing, either financially or in terms of sewage pollution and water outages, to fix their problems faster. The government said this would \u201cgive stability to investors\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Guardian understands the white paper, which will be published on Tuesday and was not made available to journalists in advance, will include provisions for the regulator to step in and \u201cmanage\u201d fines so a company does not collapse. This could include deferring penalties, or letting the company off certain payments. A source at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the \u201caim is for every water company to eventually pay their fines\u201d.<\/p>\n
Creditors have asked for Thames Water to be let off future fines as the company staves off financial collapse<\/a>. In May 2025, it was fined over \u00a3120m for environmental breaches<\/a> involving sewage spills, after failing to operate and manage its treatment works and wastewater networks effectively.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are fixing the problems and getting the companies to a stance where customers are not paying for their failures,\u201d a Defra source said.<\/p>\n Richard Benwell, CEO of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said: \u201cIf a company is fined because it\u2019s done something wrong. It should either make restitution or the polluter should pay.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cIt sounds like a desperate play to be off the hook at the last minute, and companies should think about that when they are engaging in unlawful actions and failing in their public environmental interest duties. If a business hasn\u2019t managed itself well enough to deal with the consequences of its shortcomings then it needs to deal with those consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n Industry sources said the possibility of a turnaround regime would be welcome, although they acknowledged that companies would have to accept restrictions on payouts to executives and investors if fines were reduced or deferred.<\/p>\n A new \u201cMOT for water companies\u201d will be announced as part of the measures, which ministers say will force the firms to disclose the state of their infrastructure.<\/p>\n This would prevent water outages such as those recently faced by tens of thousands of people in Kent and Sussex<\/a>, government sources said. This is because old pipes and a badly maintained water treatment centre were blamed for the shortages.<\/p>\n