Overview
- The plan would let the Environment Agency apply the civil burden of proof for minor to moderate breaches to impose penalties more quickly.
- Civil-standard penalties would be capped at either £350,000 or £500,000, and new fixed fines of £10,000, £15,000 or £20,000 would apply to specific, obvious breaches.
- Officials say modelling based on past performance points to £50 million to £67 million in annual sector costs, with lower outturns expected if behaviour improves.
- Penalties would be borne by shareholders rather than added to customer bills, with unlimited fines and prosecutions reserved for the most serious offences proved to the criminal standard.
- Nearly 98% of permit breaches were classed as minor last year, and the proposals arrive alongside plans for a single water regulator and a new growth duty as campaigners demand tougher, structural change.