Environmental performance rating sees Anglian Water given ‘two stars’ for third time

Anglian Water has admitted it “must do better” to meet environmental targets after being given a two-star rating by the Environment Agency for the third consecutive year.

It makes Anglian Water the joint-lowest rated water company in the country in terms of environmental performance.

A report by the Environment Agency showed 307 pollution incidents from sewerage assets, 11 of which were deemed serious, in the last year.

There were just 47 serious incidents of sewage pollution across English waters last year, meaning Anglian Water accounted for almost one in four (23%) of 2023’s serious incidents.

The two-star rating is the second lowest given out in these environmental performance assessments, based on a scale of 1-4.

Severn Trent Water, United Utilities and Wessex Water were given the maximum four stars, while the likes of Thames Water, Southern Water and Yorkshire Water join Anglian Water in holding two-star ratings.

Responding to the report and rating, an Anglian Water spokesperson said: “We take our responsibility to protect, restore and improve our region’s environment incredibly seriously.

“We know that we must do better on some critical measures of environmental performance, and that our customers want to see a demonstrable difference in the action we take to tackle storm spills and reduce pollution.

“We’ve drastically changed how we operate to address more effectively the unique and complex challenges facing our region, but we knew it was going to take time for this to be reflected in our environmental performance and an improved Environmental Performance Assessment rating.

“We are seeing positive changes in many areas of work, and the recent £100m of additional funding from our shareholders means that we can continue with this strategy at pace.”

Anglian Water has been no stranger to the wrath of the Environment Agency in recent times. Earlier this month, the company was fined £50,000 for failing “without reasonable excuse” to provide records requested by the agency.

It was also ordered to pay back £22 million to customers in the form of lowering bills by regulator Ofwat last year, citing poor performance and calling Anglian Water a “lagging company.”

This followed an £8.5 million fine from the same regulator over the same concerns about performance targets in 2022.

However, it is highly likely customers did not notice a decrease in their bills, due to water companies being allowed to increase their charges in line with the inflation rate, which soared after Liz Truss’ mini-budget in 2022.

The Environment Agency’s regional area director for the East Midlands, Sadia Moeed, said the body was “disappointed” with Anglian Water’s performance, and vowed to “increase our regulatory presence” across sites managed by Anglian Water.

“Where there is evidence of non-compliance we will not hesitate to pursue the water company and take appropriate action.

“As part of our national investment in water company regulation we will increase our regulatory presence across Anglian Water’s sites, contributing to the 4,000 inspections across the country this year, increasing to 10,000 next year.”

The Environment Agency says it is employing 500 extra staff, increasing compliance checks and quadrupling water company inspections by March 2025.