Lib Dems set Burnham end-of-year deadline on water as Defra Sec sits on her hands

9 Nov 2026

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The Liberal Democrats have today set Andy Burnham a deadline of the end of the year to publish a full plan to fix Britain's broken water industry – or explain to Parliament why his new Environment Secretary has made so little progress since taking office.

The Liberal Democrats are calling on the Prime Minister to publish a full plan for the water industry by 31st December
If no plan is forthcoming, Burnham must come to Parliament and explain why Environment Secretary Angela Eagle has made so little progress in more than 100 days in post
This comes as regulators confirmed water company environmental performance has fallen yet again

Dame Angela Eagle was appointed Environment Secretary in Burnham's first reshuffle in July. Since then, the Prime Minister has promised a "10-year journey to a very different water system" and a strengthened Water Bill, telling the Labour conference he would scrap the ban on public ownership of water companies. Ministers briefed that the 10-year plan would follow the Budget. The Budget has come and gone, and there is still no plan, no Bill and no decision on the future of Thames Water.

Meanwhile, last week's first joint report from the water regulators showed the Environment Agency's assessment of water company environmental performance has fallen again, with companies scoring just 16 out of a possible 36 stars.

Since privatisation, water companies have racked up £70 billion in debt and paid out £83 billion in inflation-adjusted dividends. An average of 3 billion litres of water is lost to leaks every day in England and Wales, with Thames Water alone losing 592 million litres a day. Thames Water pumped sewage into rivers and lakes for 107,822 hours last year.

Liberal Democrat Freedom of Information requests have also revealed that 29 former Ofwat employees have moved into the water sector in the past five years, and 12 former Environment Agency staff have joined regulated water and sewerage companies over the past decade.

Liberal Democrat Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Spokesperson, Tim Farron MP, said:

"Andy Burnham talked up water in his conference speech earlier this year, but speeches don't stop sewage, and families paying ever higher bills can't wait years for a ten-year plan to start.

"Angela Eagle has been in the job for more than three months and we've had warm words, reviews and a worsening water scorecard. Thames Water is still limping on, the regulators are still recycling staff into the companies they're meant to police, and our rivers are still being used as open sewers.

"The Prime Minister has until the end of the year. Publish a proper plan, or come to Parliament and explain why his new Environment Secretary has achieved so little. The Liberal Democrats have set out exactly what needs to happen – put Thames Water into special administration, scrap Ofwat and hand water companies back to the people who pay the bills. What is the Government waiting for?"

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

At Labour conference on 29th September 2026, Andy Burnham announced a strengthened Water Bill and a 10-year water reform programme, including removing restrictions on Government ownership of water companies.
The Water Industry Performance Insights report (DWI, EA, NRW, Ofwat) was published on 29th October 2026; the EA's Environmental Performance Assessment for 2025 awarded 16 of 36 possible stars.
Debt, dividend, leakage and Thames Water sewage figures are from Lib Dem conference motion F36, "Restoring our Waters" (September 2026).
FOI 202606126 (Ofwat): 29 former employees took jobs in the water sector over five years – 10 at regulated water and sewerage companies, 2 at trade bodies or lobbying groups, 17 at sector consultancies. FOI 2026/2914 (EA): 12 former employees joined regulated water and sewerage companies over ten years.
The Liberal Democrats first called on Burnham to overhaul the water industry in his first weeks as PM on 17th July 2026.
The Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to use its plan to:
- Place Thames Water into Special Administration immediately, as the first step towards customer ownership as a mutual.
- Abolish Ofwat and replace it with a powerful Clean Water Authority, with an end to the revolving door between regulators and the industry.
- Transition failing water companies into customer-owned mutuals that reinvest every penny of surplus into pipes and treatment works, not dividends.
- End the sewage cover-up by requiring companies to publish live data on the volume of sewage spills, not just their duration.
- Introduce a single national social tariff so no household is pushed into water poverty.