Five new teams in Anglia to protect waterways from pollution

The Environment Agency has expanded its water enforcement workforce and set up five new regulatory teams across East Anglia to inspect Anglian Water sites and tackle pollution as part of a wider increase in roles and funding.

The Environment Agency has expanded its enforcement workforce to strengthen action against water pollution. The increase is part of a wider drive to build a tougher regulatory culture after years of sector underperformance. Five additional water industry regulation teams have been deployed across East Anglia to check permits, inspect sites and collect samples. The expansion is backed by a larger budget and new legal powers introduced in recent legislation. Key facts: - The regulator increased its water enforcement roles from 41 in 2023 to 195 by March, with a further increase planned later in 2026. - Since 2024, five new regulatory teams have been deployed across the area served by Anglian Water to carry out inspections and gather evidence for enforcement. - More than 8,000 of 10,000 planned water company inspections for 2025/26 have been completed, producing over 4,700 individual improvement actions for water companies. - From 1 April 2025 the new teams completed over 1,500 compliance inspections at Anglian Water wastewater sites, identifying more than 900 actions. - The current water enforcement budget is a record £153 million, and the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025 introduced new powers including cost recovery for enforcement and sanctions for obstruction. Summary: The expanded workforce and new teams are intended to enable swifter enforcement and stronger oversight of water companies, and the Environment Agency reports results including reduced permit breaches and enforcement funds redirected to clean-up work. Further increases in roles are planned later in 2026 and additional provisions under the Water (Special Measures) Act are expected to follow.