Yorkshire Water to be downgraded by regulator on environmental rating

Yorkshire Water is set to be given the lowest possible environmental rating by the Environment Agency (EA) after a sharp rise in pollution incidents.

The regulator is expected to formally downgrade the company from two stars out of four to one, meaning it is now classed as a “poor performing company” for its impact on the environment.

The firm, which serves 2.4 million homes in the region, said its environmental performance was “not where it needs to be”.

The company has pledged to spend £8.3bn over five years on improvements, but said customers’ bills would provide most of the money to achieve that figure.

The EA’s annual Environmental Performance Assessment grades England’s nine water and sewerage companies, largely on how often they pollute rivers, streams and the sea.

The new figures published by the regulator showed Yorkshire Water was responsible for 260 pollution incidents in 2025, up from 151 the year before – a rise of more than 70% and the highest total since 2011.

It also failed to complete six legally required environmental schemes in west Leeds on time.

Stephanie Pullan, Yorkshire Water Director of Asset Management, said: “Our pollution performance isn’t where it needs to be, and we haven’t delivered on time six of our Water Industry National Environment Programme schemes.”

She said the company was “looking at our operational performance, making sure that we’re being as predictive as we can be”, as well as “investing in the long-term and our assets”.

The business said it was investing £8.3bn between 2025 and 2030, including £1.5bn to cut discharges from storm overflows, which release diluted sewage into rivers during heavy rain.

It said 300 schemes had been delivered across the region since April 2025.