(by Verity Mitchell) Attendees at the River Summit & Festival in Henley last week made their passions and frustrations on river quality clear during lively debates involving local MPs and representatives of the Environment Agency, Ofwat and Wildlife and Countryside Link. Many were unconvinced by official cost estimates for re-nationalisation, particularly the financial obligations to bondholders. There was widespread disappointment that more radical solutions were not availab

(by Verity Mitchell) Andy Burnham’s first formal comments to Parliament on water revealed his continuing dissatisfaction with the industry. He highlighted his belief that “it’s an industry where the shareholders never lose and the bill payers never win,” stating “[it is] run in the private rather than the public interest”. Burnham also said that the independent review into the water sector by Sir Jon Cunliffe in 2025, which did not recommend nationalisation, was “limited” and

(by Karma Loveday) Bristol Water has become the latest water company to impose a hosepipe ban. Active since 27 August across its supply area, this is the first ban in the area for 50 years. It has been issued to protect water resources in the River Severn, following the issuance of a Drought Order by the Environment Agency. Bristol Water takes over half of its water from river sources, including the River Severn via the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. The Planning Inspectora

(by Karma Loveday) The Strategic Panel has highlighted resource constraints at Ofwat as the reason behind the delivery of three actions in its Roadmap to a flourishing market being jeopardised. The most senior body in the non-household retail market has published a progress report on the delivery of of the 34 actions identified in its September 2024 Roadmap – a comprehensive plan to enable a well-functioning, competitive market. Using a RAG rating, this showed that over a thi

(by Karma Loveday) Ofwat is consulting until 9 October on a new methodology for leakage calculation and reporting. This is primarily driven by the growing availability of smart meter data, and the need to make better use of it given leakage calculations currently rely considerably on estimates. Ofwat explained that today’s approach uses a water balance that compares distribution input with water delivered to customers and other accounted-for uses. This is compared against a b

(by Karma Loveday) The Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland called for more to be done to reduce “avoidable incidents” and water discolouration as it issued its drinking water quality report for 2025. This showed 99.88% of 137,947 regulatory tests met required standards, a slight reduction in performance compared to 2024. Key findings included: 22 out of 62,134 tests on samples of water leaving water treatment works failed to meet standards, which is comparable to r

(by Karma Loveday) As MPs return to Westminster after a summer of drought and wildfires, The Wildlife Trusts have published a staunch defence of the Habitats Regulations, which it argued have repeatedly been under political fire, but which are crucial for the nation’s resilience to weather extremes. The nature group cited “successive government attacks on England’s most effective nature protections” including via the Planning and Infrastructure Act in 2025, and the Nuclear Re

(by Verity Mitchell) On 14 September, Parliament will debate a petition, created by Windrush Against Sewage Pollution’s Ashley Smith, which calls for a binding national referendum to be held on whether the water industry should be returned to public ownership. The petition states: “Water is a basic human necessity; we believe our privatised system has failed, so the public should decide who owns and controls it. Private water companies have about 62 million captive customers

(by Verity Mitchell) Assured Guaranty, a US insurance company, is reportedly pressing the Government not to put Thames Water into special administration, arguing this could trigger costly debt redemption. The insurer reported exposure to UK water company debt of £12.4bn at 31 December 2025. This included £1.78bn of financial exposure to Thames Water. Assured Guaranty provides financial guarantees to 15 UK water utilities, wrapping bonds with non-payment insurance to improve

(by Karma Loveday) In its latest move to secure consent for the purchase and refinancing of Thames Water, the London & Valley Water (L&VW) creditor consortium has proposed a cohort of specialist new non-executive directors would be appointed to the Thames board, should its latest improved offer be accepted. The new directors would oversee a ten-year turnaround plan involving the investment of billions of pounds, and “deliver a comprehensive transformation in the interest of c