The Rivers Trust has expressed its concern over the prospects for river recovery as the Government fails to enshrine the Water Restoration Fund in law.

The Rivers Trust was commenting on the Government’s decision not to formalise the Water Restoration Fund in their Water (Special Measures) Bill which is currently making its way through Parliament.

The Bill, which is intended to address poor performance from water companies, was first introduced in the House of Lords on 4 September 2024. It was introduced in the House of Commons on 27 November 2024 and its second reading took place on 16 December 2024.

On Tuesday the Bill progressed to both the report stage and third reading in the House of Commons when it was read and passed with amendments. It will now be returned to the House of Lords for further consideration.

Commenting in response to the Government's decision not to formalise the Water Restoration Fund in their Water (Special Measures) Bill, Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of The Rivers Trust said:

“Whilst we recognise the good aspects of the Water (Special Measures) Bill that strengthen our ability to hold water companies to account, we are very disappointed that the Government has declined to enshrine the Water Restoration Fund (WRF) in this legislation, despite widespread support from opposition parties, back benchers, communities and environmental groups. This misses a huge opportunity to drive important work to improve the state of our rivers.

“The Office for Environmental Protection has challenged the Government on its weak implementation and delivery of legislation; the Government’s failure yesterday to formalise the WRF is a prime example of why they are off target. In her comments, Minister Hardy repeatedly referenced the lack of impact of the existing WRF. However, she failed to note that the main reason for this is that not one penny of the existing £11 million fund has been paid out to delivery groups including Rivers Trusts by her implementing body, the Rural Payments Agency.

“We will never achieve the outcomes we want to see for our rivers while implementation and delivery is blocked in this way. Our communities, rivers, lakes and seas deserve better than this. Money from polluters must be used to rectify the harm they have caused if we want to have any hope of improving our water environment.”