Government signals end to 'business as usual' for water firms as ministers prepare unprecedented intervention in bill-setting

Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle has sent letters to Ofwat and water company chief executives, pledging to draw "a line under years of failure" after the government announced it would intervene in the regulator's price-setting process for the first time. She intends to intervene in the regulator's five-year price review, which is due to conclude in 2029 and will set bills for 2030-35. The most recent review, in 2024, allowed firms to raise bills by an average of £157, or 36 per cent.

Her letter demands value for money but stops short of ordering bill cuts.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham wants to repeal Margaret Thatcher's ban on public ownership.

Eagle will decide within days on South West and South East Water's requests for bans that could shut swimming pools.