Water Pressure: Here's what you need to know, and do, before the Water Reform Bill is written
By Isabella Gornall, Founder and Chair
Ahead of the King’s Speech on the 13 May, where the Government will set out its priorities and upcoming Bills for the year ahead, Seahorse is publishing a series of insights on the legislative agenda we can expect in the next parliamentary session.
In the last edition, Seahorse’s Director for Energy and Infrastructure Jade Pallister explained what we can expect from the Energy Independence Bill.
Today’s focus is on the upcoming Water Reform Bill.
Water Pressure: Here's what you need to know, and do, before the Water Reform Bill is written.
The Water Reform Bill represents the biggest reset of the water industry in a generation - and the window to help shape it is closing.
How the Water Reform Bill came about
Over recent years, the ‘politics of poo’ has continued as a key voting issue at a national and local level. Following the 2024 general election, Seahorse client River Action captured the moment by leading on the March for Clean Water in October of that year with 15,000 people calling on the Government to carrying out an urgent review of the water industry.
This was an unprecedented turn out for a demonstration focused on one area of British nature and what followed was a brilliant example of how to turn public momentum into political traction.
Firstly, the Environment Secretary established The Independent Water Commission chaired by Sir Jon Cunliffe that marked the biggest review of the water industry in history.
Secondly, with Seahorse’s help, River Action and Surfers Against Sewage set up the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Water Pollution. It was the first water group to form with no links to the water industry and gives parliamentarians a dedicated forum to discuss vital issues of major reform without worrying where the money is coming from.
Cunliffe’s recommendations resulted in the Government’s Water White Paper, soon to become the Water Reform Bill. At each moment, River Action, Surfers Against Sewage and others have been influencing and raising ambition for this Bill. This includes a main ask of the White Paper that ‘Operator Self-Monitoring should be removed entirely’ to end water companies being able to mark their own homework.
Channel 4’s Dirty Business
If you haven’t yet watched Dirty Business, I urge you to do so. It’s a remarkable yet shocking account of the water sector in the UK and the impact it has had on the health and wellbeing of all who want to enjoy Britain’s rivers, lakes and seas.
Here’s what we’re hearing in Parliament in response to the series. It has clearly sharpened attention and given MPs a compelling hook, but so far it seems to be amplifying existing concern (with MPs who have raised these issues before) rather than changing who is engaged or materially shifting the Government’s policy response.
For example, we were pleased to see the focus on Operator Self-Monitoring in the series. However, the Water White Paper, published a month prior to the series, had already stated the Government’s goal to end it. This meant that while Water Minister Emma Hardy recognised how “distressing and upsetting” the documentary was, the Government didn’t feel forced to respond with a distinct new policy response and instead could continue to use existing reform lines e.g. banning bonuses, scrapping Ofwat, and ending self-monitoring.
There may have been little response to the series in Whitehall, but campaigners are ensuring that pressure is being applied to take a new and ambitious approach to the Water Reform Bill.
What next?
Surfers Against Sewage has got a Dirty Business petition going with 240,000 signatures calling for major government reforms ahead of the Bill being published:
Public health must come first and profit from sewage pollution must end.
The Government must end the current privatised water industry.
The Government must take back control of water companies and restructure them, removing the profit motive, to ensure they operate for people and the environment. No option, including public ownership, should be off the table.
You can add your name to the petition here.
This is the last major moment of influence before we see the Bill. The APPG will be working hard in the coming months to ensure our asks are incorporated, including the end to Operator Self-Monitoring being on the face of the Bill. It must not become a rebranding exercise in which companies still generate the core evidence base and regulators simply receive it in a new format.
If the Bill fails to set out these major reforms, then the APPG will work with our parliamentarians to amend it.
For organisations with any exposure to water regulation, whether that's compliance risk, reputational pressure, or specific provisions, the next few months are critical. Policy positions are hardening and the Bill is nearly written. Moving now and engaging with the right people is the difference between shaping the outcome and reacting to it.
If you want to understand what's coming and where you can still have an impact, let's talk.