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Water

Asked by Andy SlaughterLabourDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled Answered 6 January 2026UIN 100296

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to release the White Paper on water reform in January 2026.

Answered by Emma Hardy

The Government will respond to the Independent Water Commission’s final recommendations in full via a White Paper shortly and a new water reform bill, bringing forward root and branch reform to secure better outcomes for customers, investors and the environment and restore trust and accountability.

Together with the building blocks the Government has already put in place, this will mark the most fundamental reset to our water system in a generation. A new partnership between Government, the sector, investors and communities will deliver the change the public expects.

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