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23
Oct
Yorkshire Water receives low performance rating in new report
Yorkshire Water has been told to improve its environmental performance in a newly published report.
The Environment Agency published its Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) for 2024 today (October 23), which assesses the performance of the nine water and sewerage companies in England.
Yorkshire Water was one of seven firms rated two out of four stars for performance — meaning the company "requires improvement".
Only Thames Water received one star. Severn Trent Water was the only company to be awarded four stars.
The ratings are based on measures including pollution incidents, compliance with permits and self-reporting.
The Environment Agency described the results collectively as "poor" and said they were the lowest set of combined ratings since the assessment process started in 2011.
It added that the number of pollution incidents was a "particular concern" and pointed out that serious pollution incidents had increased by 60% this year alone.
The report concludes: "It is unacceptable that the sector has moved further away from meeting their performance expectations."
Alan Lovell, chair of the Environment Agency, said:
This year’s results are poor and must serve as a clear and urgent signal for change. What is needed now from every water company is bold leadership, a shift in mindset, and a relentless focus on delivery. We will support them however we can but will continue to robustly challenge them when they fall short.
The report cites a number of factors for the decline in performance, including the wet and stormy weather in 2024, underinvestment and poor maintenance of infrastructure, as well as increased monitoring and inspection.
It said Yorkshire Water was one of three companies which together accounted for 81% of all reported serious pollution incidents.
The Environment Agency said the figure “continues to be unacceptable".
In response to the Environment Agency report, a Yorkshire Water spokesperson said:
As we said in July, when the pollution figures were first published, our performance in 2024 was not good enough. We take our responsibility for the environment very seriously and have investigated each serious incident in detail to understand root causes. We have a plan which includes investment in infrastructure, giving us more intelligence about the system so we can react before an issue becomes an event, and employing more people to allow us to respond more quickly. These changes have become real in the second half of 2025 and we are seeing improvements coming through as a result.
Looking ahead, we are investing £8.3 billion over the next five years to improve service levels, cut pollution, and make Yorkshire’s water infrastructure fit for the future. This reflects our long-term commitment to delivering better outcomes for customers, communities, and the environment across the region.
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