Rebecca Pow MP welcomes launch of Water Restoration Fund

Taunton Deane MP Rebecca Pow has welcomed the recent Government announcement that up to £11 million in water company fines and penalties will be reinvested back into a new Water Restoration Fund (WRF).

All water company environmental fines and penalties since April 2022 have been ringfenced to directly improve the water environment. The Water Restoration Fund will offer grant funding on a competitive basis to support local groups, farmers and landowners and community-led schemes, bolstering their capacity and capabilities for on-the-ground projects to improve the water environment. This could include activities that improve biodiversity and community access to blue and green spaces in areas where water companies have been issued with fines or penalties.

Local MP Rebecca Pow said:

“I have been clear that the volume of sewage discharged into our waters is utterly unacceptable and it’s why our Plan for Water, which I was pleased to instigate as the then Water Minister, means more investment, stronger regulation and tougher enforcement, tackling every source of pollution and ensuring swift enforcement action is taken against those who break the rules.

The Plan for Water also included a commitment to create a new Water Restoration Fund, which will now ensure money from fines and penalties taken from water companies will be channelled directly back into improving our waterways. This builds on action taken in recent months which includes a ban on water bosses’ bonuses when criminal breaches have occurred, subject to consultation, plans to quadruple water company inspections and the launch of a whistleblowing portal for water company workers to report breaches.

I know just how important our precious waterways are to my constituents across Taunton Deane and this new fund represents the latest step taken by Government to enhance water quality right across the country.”