The Government has rejected the call for water companies to be statutory consultees on all major planning decisions in the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee drought report Surviving drought: reclaim the rain’ published in May 2026.

The Lords Committee had warned in its report that taps could run dry if the Government doesn’t act on drought threat and that England was at risk of “sleepwalking into serious water scarcity."

Commenting on the Government ‘s response to the Lords ECCC inquiry into drought preparedness, Lord Krebs, Member of the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee said;

“We welcome the Government’s response to our report and for accepting the vast majority of our recommendations. However, it is disappointing that they have rejected our call for water companies to be statutory consultees on all major planning decisions. They have also turned down the opportunity, at a time when farms and businesses need it most, to expand the remits of Internal Drainage Boards (IDBs) to support improved water resource management at a local level.

As we spiral towards another drought with wildfires burning, crops suffering, reservoir levels falling and hose pipes bans being put in place, the Government must act urgently to secure water now and for the future. Otherwise, as our report warns, the taps could run dry.”

The Government has accepted a number of the Committee’s recommendations on a number of actions, including:

• Conduct an economic and environmental assessment for each future drought scenario
• Invest further in drought data collection
• Strengthen the Building Regulations 2010
• Reducing leaks
• Communication plan for drought engagement
• Assessment of the cost effectiveness of reducing demand, increasing efficiency and increasing supply
• Clarify support for local water supply options
• Moving abstraction licensing into the Environmental Permitting Regime (EPR)
• Modernising the drought permitting process

However, it has only partially accepted recommendations on other recommendations, including publishing an assessment of the feasibility and cost of monitoring private water supplies, planning for emergency drought and nature based solutions.

“Government believes strategic issues, such as water capacity, drainage, and wastewater management are best dealt with at strategic level"

The Government has rejected outright the Committee’s recommendations for water companies to be statutory consultees on all major planning decisions and expanding the remit of Internal Drainage Boards (IDBs).

In its repoprt the Committee called for water companies to be made statutory consultees on all major planning decisions, including housing developments, data centres, and energy infrastructure projects, to support water resource planning.

Setting out its detailed reasons to reject the recommendation, the Government response to this says:

“Government recognises there is a clear need to consider water availability in the planning process, aligning both our growth agenda and the need to protect our precious water resources. However, having carefully considered, we reject this recommendation........

“The Government believes that strategic issues, such as water capacity, drainage, and wastewater management are best dealt with at a strategic level, where it is easier to identify and mitigate capacity issues or damaged infrastructure early, and which can act as a point of reference for planning application decisions.”

Click here to download the full response