Water Companies: Criminal Proceedings
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to publish a list of live legal cases the Government is taking against water companies.
Answered by Emma Hardy
At the conclusion of an investigation into a water company the Environment Agency (EA) will ordinarily be able to disclose the fact of the live prosecution from the point the information has been laid and summons granted. This is subject to any reporting restrictions imposed by the Court.
Information about formal cautions and prosecutions carried out by the EA can be found here.
For any ongoing criminal investigations into water companies, the EA may be constrained in what it can say in order to ensure that they do not prejudice the ongoing investigations, or any criminal proceedings that may follow. Each investigation would need to be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Details about all open enforcement and customer disputes cases with Ofwat are available on the Ofwat website.
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