Boxing Day swimmers buoyed by yr of motion to wash up waters

As 1000’s of individuals throughout England courageous icy waters for conventional Boxing Day swims, the federal government displays on a yr of motion in cleansing up the nation’s rivers, lakes and seas. 

This follows final month’s outcomes exhibiting that 93% of bathing websites meet requirements for swimming – an encouraging enchancment on final yr.   

In 2025, decisive motion was taken to reset the water sector, strengthen regulation and drive long-term funding, all geared toward restoring public belief and defending the waters individuals get pleasure from. 

The authorities has: 

• Passed the landmark Water (Special Measures) Act, introducing the hardest enforcement powers in a decade, together with legal legal responsibility for water bosses who cowl up unlawful sewage spills and the facility to ban unfair bonuses, which has seen greater than £4 million kilos in bonuses banned throughout six water firms this yr. 
• Ringfenced water firm funding, making certain clients’ cash is spent on fixing pipes, decreasing sewage spills and bettering water high quality, not dividends or bonuses. 
• Given the Environment Agency enamel, permitting the regulator to get better enforcement prices from polluters, considerably enhance inspections, and concern penalties extra shortly with out having to direct assets to prolonged investigations.    
• Improved transparency, requiring real-time monitoring at each emergency overflow so the general public can see what is going on of their native waters.  
• Boosted protections for patrons, doubling compensation when fundamental water companies fail and making it simpler for susceptible households to entry invoice assist. 

These measures are underpinned by over £104 billion in non-public funding, secured on the finish of final yr, to improve water infrastructure over the following 5 years – the most important programme since privatisation – creating jobs, supporting new properties and chopping air pollution. 

This authorities can also be reforming our bathing water rules to carry prescriptive guidelines on bathing seasons and de-designation; and to guard public well being.   

Water Minister Emma Hardy mentioned: 

Boxing Day swims are a superb reminder of how a lot individuals worth their rivers, lakes and seas.  

This yr we’ve taken powerful, long-overdue motion to guard them – growing bathing water high quality, blocking hundreds of thousands in bonuses and unlocking document funding to wash up our waterways.  

And we’re not stopping there. Next yr we will set out long-term reforms to construct upon this work and create a water sector match for the long run.

Building on this motion, the federal government will publish a Water White Paper within the new yr, setting out complete long-term plans to reform the water sector.  

This continues the largest overhaul of the water business since privatisation, by strengthening regulation, decreasing air pollution, and accelerating the supply of important infrastructure. 

It follows the announcement earlier this yr of plans to abolish Ofwat and substitute the present fragmented system with a single, highly effective water regulator to offer traders readability, water firms clear expectations, and clients a renewed confidence within the system.