# Lift limits on government shares in water companies

> “The Prime Minister announced on 29 September that the strengthened Water Bill will remove the current limits on Government ownership of shares in the major water and sewerage companies in England.”
>
> — Angela Eagle, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Labour Party; Written ministerial statement, 12 October 2026

- **Status:** Promised
- **Status ladder:** Promised → In plan → Legislated → Funded → Delivering → Delivered
- **Policy area:** [Housing & environment](https://ledgergov.uk/promises/area/housing-and-environment)
- **Speaker:** [Angela Eagle](https://ledgergov.uk/actor/angela-eagle), Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- **Party:** [Labour Party](https://ledgergov.uk/actor/labour)
- **Made on:** 12 October 2026
- **Where:** Written ministerial statement
- **Cost a year:** No costing published
- **Who it affects:** The major water and sewerage companies in England, and their customers
- **When:** When the Water Bill becomes law (no date given)
- **Paid for by:** Not stated when it was announced
- **Quote source:** https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2026-10-12/HCWS354 (checked word for word on 13 October 2026; Open Parliament Licence v3.0)
- **Last updated:** 13 October 2026
- **Card:** https://ledgergov.uk/promise/uk-water-company-share-limits-2026

## Where it stands

The Prime Minister announced the change on 29 September 2026; the Environment Secretary repeated it to Parliament on 12 October. She says it lets the government act where water companies let customers and the environment down, and that the government still relies on private investment. A ten-year plan due later this year is to set out stronger public control of the water sector. The card moves to legislated when the Water Bill becomes law with the change.

## Timeline

- 12 October 2026, Promised: The Environment Secretary says the Water Bill will remove the limits on government ownership of shares in the major water and sewerage companies in England

## About the cost

Lifting the limits costs nothing by itself; buying shares would, and no figure has been published.

## Sources

- [Written ministerial statement HCWS354, 12 Oct 2026: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs activity during the conference recess](https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2026-10-12/HCWS354)

## Checks

- Checked automatically by AI Journalist, not yet verified by an editor.
- Checked by AI Journalist (automated) on 13 October 2026.

---

LedgerGov.UK's own writing (headlines, status notes, cost notes, summaries) is licensed under [Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/): reuse it, crediting LedgerGov.UK with a link to the card. Official figures are under the [Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/) unless their source says otherwise; quotes from Parliament under the [Open Parliament Licence v3.0](https://www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright-parliament/open-parliament-licence/); other quotes are short extracts whose rights stay with the speaker. How the numbers and statuses are made: https://ledgergov.uk/method.