Dame Glenys Stacey, Chair of the OEP, spoke at the Westminster Energy, Environment & Transport Forum policy conference 'Next steps for tackling water pollution in England' on Wednesday 18 September 2024.
Good morning, and thank you so much for once again inviting me to speak at one of these events, and one covering such an important topic at such an interesting time.
Water quality - the state of our rivers, lakes and seas - remains high on the public and political agenda. It is never far away from the national headlines. We are so used now to seeing images of sewage flowing into our rivers and seas, of hearing stories about people not able to enjoy their hobbies, be it swimming, rowing, fishing, surfing or any number of others, because of the state of the water, and of famous, beautiful tourism spots being blighted by pollution, impacting on businesses that rely on visitors. There are obviously health risks and social issues associated with pollution in our water bodies, but we must also remember that good quality water is essential for nature to thrive, and for government to achieve its targets for protecting and restoring nature. It is vital. Nature is in crisis. We need healthy waters to turn that around.
We have a new Secretary of State for the Environment, Steve Reed. He has come out fighting. Cleaning up rivers, lakes and seas is one of his five priorities.
I was there at Thames Rowing Club for his speech a couple of weeks ago, where he set out his determination to improve our waters and announced a fundamental review, a step we very much welcome. The issues are complex and interdependent; solutions will be costly, and they will effect consumers and taxpayers. It is absolutely right then to think carefully, well and sufficiently comprehensively, with the right technical and other experts involved, so as to get to an effective long-term plan.
And meanwhile, government is strengthening accountability for water companies, and the Environment Agency is increasing significantly its monitoring of water quality, another welcome step in the right direction.
But the scale and complexity of the challenge here is significant. It will take a concerted effort by all those with the expertise and passion required to make the changes needed.
I include the Office for Environmental Protection in that. I have been asked to speak here on the main findings of our recent report on the implementation of the Water Framework Directives, which of course I am happy to do, and also to set it in the wider context as part of a broader programme of work by the OEP, and how that can help make the fundamental shift that is needed for our water bodies to thrive.
Setting the scene
Recent assessments of the condition of our rivers, lakes and other surface waters show that over four in five are not in good ecological condition, or on a trajectory towards it. We have seen little change in recent years, despite measures designed to improve matters. As things stand, Government will not meet the ambition that most water bodies will be on the road to good condition or else already in that state by 2027.
The Secretary of State has now set out his three-phase plan to clean up water, to improve this bleak picture.
Phase one sees funding ring-fenced for infrastructure upgrades. Phase two, that most recent announcement, will see new legislation aimed at strengthening the powers of water industry regulators to hold water companies fully to account.
But those steps are only part of the picture. A far more fundamental shift in approach is needed to address the situation we face. Those steps must buy the time for a long-term, strategic plan to protect and improve water quality.
Which is why the third phase the Minister spoke of is so important. Further legislation to fundamentally transform the nation’s water system. Informed by a Government review involving those with infrastructure, economic and, of course, environmental expertise. And subject to public consultation.
That review – that collaboration, that transparency – is vitally important. Getting that right, harnessing the energy and expertise available, is key to ensuring the positive future for water that Steve Reed spoke of. I urge everyone not only to support that review, but to hold Government to account on delivering that vision in a meaningful way that can deliver the fundamental, strategic shift needed.
The commitment is welcome. The delivery will be all. This review must be thorough and comprehensive. Sewage dominates the headlines but there are many other problems to tackle – agricultural run-off, road run off, and chemicals, to name but a few. It will take the time that it takes. It can’t be rushed, but there must be no dawdling. The outcome must be a plan for the long term, that will take time to come to fruition, and involve some difficult choices. But it must be done. Private investment will be important, but we can expect as taxpayers and water consumers that we will have to play our part as well.
The work of the OEP can, I think, be hugely helpful in informing this review.
WFD report
As you will be aware, the key legislation regarding water quality is the Water Framework Directive Regulations for England, implemented by Defra and the Environment Agency through River Basin, Management Planning.
We took a close look at this, to assess whether Government’s plans to improve England’s rivers, lakes and coastal waters are likely to be effective enough to achieve the target to have 77% in Good Ecological Status or Potential by 2027 – the Environmental Objectives set in the regulations.
What we found was deeply concerning.
Government and the Environment Agency are currently not on track to meet the Environmental Objectives. Our worst case assessment would see just 21% of surface waters in Good Ecological state by 2027, representing only a 5% improvement since they were last assessed in 2021.
We found that, while the relevant law here is broadly sound, it is simply not being implemented effectively. This is largely down to poor governance and a lack of specific actions, resources and investments being pointed at this work, rather than failings by the individuals who are working at the sharp end and doing the best with what they have. I know the Environment Agency is already taking some steps to address this, but as it stands these important regulations are not delivering as intended and, as a consequence, most of our open water is likely to remain in a less than ideal state in the years ahead unless things change.
The regulations cover inland surface waters, for example rivers and lakes, groundwaters, transitional waters (estuaries and lagoons) and coastal waters. Our report identified a number of serious barriers preventing their effective implementation, including:
• insufficient investment
• improvement plans being too generic and not specific to locations
• lack of certainty, pace and clear deadlines to implement measures
• inadequate governance.
Simply put, our waters would be far better protected and have much better prospects if the laws that are already in place were just put into practice properly.
There is a particularly urgent need for additional measures to be in place and for measures to be targeted at a local level. If the 2027 targets are to be missed, which looks most likely, things must be got back on track as soon as possible.
In our report we made 15 recommendations to Defra and the Environment Agency. These include recommendations in relation to the objectives that Government has set for achievement by 2027, and to strengthen the legislative framework and its governance and application in the longer term.
Specific recommendations include:
- Government should retain the fundamental underlying structure and approach of the WFD Regulations, but consult on proposals to improve the legal and governance framework to produce a regime that is stronger and includes mechanisms for better implementation
- The measures needed for each water body should be time‑bound, and implemented accordingly, in alignment with the Environmental Objectives and their intended dates of achievement. This should include the implementation of specific physical and regulatory actions, as well as the development of necessary enabling policy measures and funding mechanisms
- Defra should develop and implement a coherent monitoring and evaluation framework for the state of the water environment and progress on measures to improve it.
In the course of preparing the report, we identified a number of areas where the Government and the Environment Agency may not have complied with the requirements of the regulations. These include: the setting of Environmental Objectives for water bodies with clear ‘low confidence’; the lack of specific information showing when and how objectives for individual water bodies will be met; the justification of approved ‘exemptions’ from the objectives in the regulations; and issues of public participation and consultation.
Government has now responded to this report. We note that it accepts our key conclusions that not enough progress has been made in improving the water environment, saying that is due to a lack of investment and action over the last 15 years, when the first River Basin Management Plans were published.
There are positives in the response, there is a commitment to working constructively with us and to take action to improve the water environment. But there are some things that are perhaps not as we would wish. The response does not address each of our recommendations individually, instead indicating some will be considered as part of the review we have just spoken about. While we of course welcome the review, it should not delay the urgent actions needed to address our recommendations.
Our report identified a number of areas of possible non-compliance with environmental law. We will take this response into account as we decide whether any further action is required.
To move quickly to Northern Ireland - while all I have just talked through related to England, more recently we published a report looking at the same regulations in Northern Ireland. Indeed, that was our first report to be laid before the Assembly.
We found a very similar picture – basically sound regulations with a lack of effective implementation. We also pointed to the fact that the River Basin Management Plans, required by the regulations and due to be updated by December 2021, were still outstanding. We called for DAERA to publish them and put them into action as soon as possible.
Bathing waters
The next part of our work looking at environmental laws relating to water is our project on bathing waters. Such an interesting area, actually, with the increase in use of our water bodies for leisure and recreation. The Victorian idyll of a bracing dip in the sea in a full body bathing suit before retreating to the beach hut has long been replaced with wild swimming, surfing, paddle-boarding, kayaking, wind surfing and much more. It is timely for us to look at whether the regulations around bathing waters have kept up with society, so we have been looking at the guiding principles shaping the regulations, their technical implementation and their coherence with relevant water policy and law.
We intend to report soon.
CSOs investigation
Another important focus of our work on water quality is our investigation into the regulation of combined sewer overflows by Defra, the Environment Agency and Ofwat. It is a complex and lengthy process. But the potential prize here for everyone is significant. There is an opportunity for this investigation to underpin a fundamental shift in the regulatory approach to better protect water quality, so we will continue to do the detailed work needed.
To recap on our position. We issued Information Notices to the three public bodies identifying possible failures to comply with environmental law in relation to the regulation of combined sewer overflows (CSOs).
As a result of our investigations, we think there may have been misinterpretations of some key points of law. One of the main issues is that where we interpret the law to mean that untreated sewage discharges should generally be allowed only in exceptional circumstances, such as during unusually heavy rainfall, it appears that the public authorities may have interpreted the law differently, permitting such discharges to occur more often.
This then has consequences for the regulatory activity that follows. The guidance provided by Government to regulators, and the permitting regime they put in place for the water companies, possibly allow untreated sewage discharges to occur more regularly than intended by the law without risk of sanction. This is what underpins the possible failures to comply that we have identified.
Clarifying this point will ensure future efforts to improve water quality are built on a solid foundation – a clear understanding of what the law requires.
We are now actively engaging with the three agencies, seeking a resolution that provides the best outcome for the environment. Of course, if court action is required, that remains an option to us.
This point about spills in exceptional circumstances only is not just of interest to the OEP. Last month Ofwat proposed that three water companies will be fined a total of £168m for failing to manage their wastewater treatment works and networks, as part of the first batch of outcomes from its own investigation.
In making this announcement, Ofwat’s Chief Executive David Black said that they had uncovered a ‘catalogue of failure by Thames Water, Yorkshire Water and Northumbrian Water in how they ran their sewage works, resulting in excessive spills from storm overflows’. He said their investigation had shown the companies had routinely released sewage into our rivers and seas rather than ‘ensuring that this only happens in exceptional circumstances as the law intends’.
We will say more about the next steps in our investigation as soon as we are able.
Marine
Before I finish, we must turn our attention to the marine environment. We are deeply concerned about the state of our seas. It is a growing area of interest for the OEP. Everything is pointing towards an assessment due to be published by Government at the end of this year confirming that the Good Environmental Status (or GES) target – which should have been achieved by December 2020 – will not have been met. It is critical that Government acts now to address any such non-compliance with the law by putting in place a plan to achieve GES as soon as feasibly possible. We will be watching closely.
There are other, similar environmental targets which will fall due over the next few years – on air quality, on Net Zero, under the Environment Act 2021 and those Environmental Objectives under the Water Framework Directive Regulations that I’ve already discussed. Across all of these areas, just as with the marine environment, what we need to see is Government preparing and implementing credible and coherent delivery plans to ensure these important targets are met.
Conclusion
I suspect that speaking to you today at an event about tackling water pollution feels a lot different to how it would have felt before the General Election.
Things do feel different. While the previous Government was engaged in tackling water pollution in various ways, a new Government can come in and take a fresh look. It has the opportunity to reset. There are genuinely positive signs. There is much to welcome in what we have heard from the Secretary of State since he took up that role.
I am delighted by that. But also wary. What has not changed is the scale and complexity of the problem to be fixed, and the potential cost of doing so. This remains a huge challenge.
I was asked to consider the implications for policy and stakeholders. The implications are profound.
There is opportunity here. Opportunity to develop a joined-up, comprehensive solution that will deliver water quality, and quantity, to the standard expected in modern day. An opportunity to be transparent about the nature of the problem – all of the issues impacting on our water bodies – and the timescales and costs of the solutions needed. An opportunity to be properly open with the public.
If the political will is there to drive a fundamental change to how the nation protects and improves its waters, we must all play a part in supporting that and contributing our own energy and expertise. And that may mean, in the spirit of collaboration and shared-goals, calling out if things go off-track, and the intent is not matched by the actions.
It won’t be plain sailing, but we must all get in the boat.
