The new measure delivers on the government’s promise to bring tougher criminal charges against lawbreakers in the water industry, UK’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs said in a statement. It’s essential “because some water companies have obstructed investigations, failing to hand over vital evidence related to illegal sewage discharges,” it said.

The UK’s water sector has been in the spotlight after numerous scandals over systematic sewage spills and chronic pipe leaks, following decades of poor government oversight. Water companies in England reported 2,487 pollution incidents last year, the highest in a decade, according to Surfers Against Sewage, a campaigning charity.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed announced a series of initial steps in July — together with a promise of the biggest overhaul in the industry since privatization in 1989. Only three water company officials have been criminally prosecuted since privatization and the maximum punishment was a fine – though no fines were issued, Defra said in the statement. The government will continue to reform the water sector, it said.

Photograph: Sewage is discharged into Earlswood brook from the nearby treatment works, run by Thames Water on April 13, 2023 in South Earlswood, England. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

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