UK to set out water reforms as Thames Water faces crisis

18/7/2025 17:52

Britain is expected to set out measures to fix its broken water sector on Monday as Thames Water teeters on the brink of failure, saying it needs a "reset" of regulation to have any chance of avoiding nationalisation.



The country's biggest water company has been fighting for its survival for the last 18 months. If it fails the government would have to step in, adding billions of pounds to already stretched public finances.



Britain commissioned a review last year into the privatised water industry in England and Wales, which needs huge investments to fix aging infrastructure and stem sewage spills into rivers and lakes that have angered the public.



Former Bank of England deputy governor Jon Cunliffe, who is leading the review, has recommended overhauling regulation to lower investment risk, merging regulators to give companies clearer direction and new rules on river bathing standards.



"Water companies must be made more attractive to stable, long-term investors," Cunliffe said in his interim report in June, adding that the sector required more predictable regulation.