THE water industry’s new “super regulator” must retain specialist jobs needed to hold sewage-spewing utility firms to account, Unison has warned.

The government is creating a single body from Ofwat, the Environment Agency, Natural England, and the Drinking Water Inspectorate as part of the planned Water Reform Bill.

Unison raised concerns that environmental protections could be weakened if some regulatory functions are “hived off to other bodies outside the scope of the new watchdog.”

The union’s head of environment Donna Rowe-Merriman said: “The public is right to expect cleaner rivers, healthier waterways and tougher action against companies that cause massive damage to the environment.

“Change is necessary but reorganisation is not the same as reform. 

“Moving responsibilities between organisations will not, by itself, improve water quality or strengthen environmental protection. 

“What’s needed is a regulator with teeth and staff empowered to hold water firms to account.

“Environment Agency staff provide the expertise that underpins effective regulation. Fragmenting those functions risks creating confusion when better co-ordination is vital.

“Nobody should lose out as a result of any restructuring. Any new regulator must protect specialist skills, provide workforce stability and ensure staff are treated fairly.”

She made the comments at a Unison conference in Brighton on Sunday.

Reform of water regulation was vital after years of environmental decline, underinvestment and public frustration with privatised companies pumping raw sewage into the UK’s rivers and seas, according to the union.

It is set to publish a report it says will highlight decades of underinvestment, environmental decline and regulatory failure across the water industry in England and Wales this week.