CIEH responds to the Government’s ‘New Vision for Water’

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH), the body representing Environmental Health Practitioners (EHPs) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, has responded to the Government's white paper outlining reform to the UK water system.

The report – ‘A New Vision for Water’ - proposes a new single regulator with strengthened powers to oversee the country’s water companies. Among the most notable changes is the creation of a chief engineer role within the regulator and a new Performance Improvement Regime for water companies.

Mark Elliott, President of CIEH, said:

“CIEH has consistently called for Government to take stronger action against water companies that illegally discharge untreated sewage, and to prioritise long‑overdue investment in the UK’s sewage infrastructure.

“Everyone should be able to trust the water they drink and bathe in. Yet repeated incidents of raw sewage discharges, coupled with weaknesses in the regulatory system, have eroded public confidence in the water sector across England and Wales and highlighted serious, system‑wide failings.

“We therefore welcome steps aimed at improving oversight and strengthening the regulatory framework. However, the new regulator will need to juggle competing objectives as outlined in the policy paper, only one of which includes the protection of public health and the environment, which must be paramount in its work going forward.

“We do though welcome the commitment to ensure public health is ‘considered more broadly in our new frameworks and regulations and to consider evidence gaps’ which will be ‘supported by a Chief Medical Officer-led Public Health Water Taskforce’.

“It is essential that the expertise and on‑the‑ground insight of EHPs, who live and work in the communities affected, are fully utilised. We will be scrutinising the proposals in depth to ensure they incorporate the holistic insight that EHPs contribute to safeguarding water as a valuable natural asset.

“Water is one of the most basic determinants of environmental health, and strong governance is essential to ensure public health and environmental protection are never secondary considerations.

“We stand ready to work constructively in a new structure to help deliver a system that meets the higher standards the public expects and deserves.”