The Environment Agency is reporting that record £8.5 million funding has been secured through enforcement action against water companies in the form of Enforcement Undertakings.

Ofwat has today proposed a £44.7m enforcement package following its findings that Welsh Water has breached its legal obligations in operating its wastewater treatment works and network.

The Environment Agency (EA) has assembled its largest ever team of investigators, enforcement officers and lawyers tackling water pollution, significantly strengthening its enforcement capability as part of a drive to build a tougher regulatory culture.

Ofwat has today confirmed that Southern Water has completed all the enforcement actions resulting from its 2019 investigation into the company.

Ofwat is seeking views on guidance it has issued setting out its approach to enforcement aimed at providing clarity to water companies, customers and other stakeholders - the ultimate sanction is High Court special administration order where the court is satisfied that the company's breach is serious enough to make it inappropriate for the company to continue to hold its appointment or it is or is likely to be unable to pay its debts.

Severn Trent has agreed to pay £600,000 to the Trent Rivers Trust following a pollution incident - the payment follows the Environment Agency's investigation into the pollution of a Leicestershire brook by the water company.

Severn Trent has agreed an Enforcement Undertaking (EU) with the Environment Agency and paid Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust £327,500 after an investigation which revealed that raw sewage from a blocked sewer had been discharged into a brook near Gloucester - impacting about 1.7km of the watercourse.

The Environment Agency has accepted an Enforcement Undertaking (EU) from Reckitt Benckiser (UK) Ltd to address a breach of environmental legislation following a trade effluent leak which led to the death of almost 400 fish.

Northumbrian Water will pay £50,000 to Tyne Rivers Trust after a burst pipe polluted Monkton Burn in Jarrow, South Tyneside.

Yorkshire Water has paid a record £1 million to charities after polluting a Harrogate watercourse, following an investigation by the Environment Agency.