Press statement: Concern over river recovery as government fails to enshrine the Water Restoration Fund in law
The Rivers Trust responds to the Government’s decision not to formalise the Water Restoration Fund in their Water (Special Measures) Bill
29/01/25
Our response to the Government's decision not to formalise the Water Restoration Fund in their Water (Special Measures) Bill
“Whilst we recognise the good aspects of the Water (Special Measures) Bill that strengthen our ability to hold water companies to account, we are very disappointed that the Government has declined to enshrine the Water Restoration Fund (WRF) in this legislation, despite widespread support from opposition parties, back benchers, communities and environmental groups. This misses a huge opportunity to drive important work to improve the state of our rivers.
“The Office for Environmental Protection has challenged the Government on its weak implementation and delivery of legislation; the Government’s failure yesterday to formalise the WRF is a prime example of why they are off target. In her comments, Minister Hardy repeatedly referenced the lack of impact of the existing WRF. However, she failed to note that the main reason for this is that not one penny of the existing £11 million fund has been paid out to delivery groups including Rivers Trusts by her implementing body, the Rural Payments Agency.
“We will never achieve the outcomes we want to see for our rivers while implementation and delivery is blocked in this way. Our communities, rivers, lakes and seas deserve better than this. Money from polluters must be used to rectify the harm they have caused if we want to have any hope of improving our water environment.”
Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of The Rivers Trust