Ministers will step into setting water bills for the first time as the Environment Secretary vows to end 'business as usual'

From the Newshound archive · first published 24 October 2026 · last updated 25 October 2026.

Dame Angela Eagle has written directly to Ofwat and the water firms setting out her demands, saying she is 'drawing a line under years of failure'. She is expected to get involved in Ofwat's next price review, due to conclude in 2029, which will set bill rises for 2030-35. At the last review in 2024, the firms were allowed to hike bills by an average of £157, or 36 per cent. Prime Minister Andy Burnham wants to repeal Margaret Thatcher's ban on public ownership.

Eagle: the water sector is 'a symbol of everything that went wrong'.

She will rule within days on bans requested by South West Water and South East Water.

The drought orders could close swimming pools and stop commercial car washing.