Afonydd Cymru’s Position
Enforcement Undertakings
Enforcement Undertakings (EUs) are an alternative to prosecution and designed so that a polluter pays for the remediation of environmental damage they have caused. In Wales, EUs are overseen by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and can be applicable to polluters from all sectors.
NRW’s policy on EUs states that where environmental harm has been caused, the damage should be rectified to achieve equivalent benefit to the environment and additional compensation given by the offender when full restoration is not possible. EUs are specific to remediation of the damage caused by the original offence.
Suitable recipients of EUs in Wales are, therefore, local organisations that carry out physical environmental improvements directly. Afonydd Cymru is an umbrella organisation working at an all-Wales strategic level. We will not, therefore, accept EUs. Regional rivers trusts, however, would be suitable organisations to carry out such work and should have their own policies in place.
Regulatory Settlements
It is Ofwat’s responsibility to ensure water companies comply with their legal obligations. In addition to fines (which go to the UK Treasury and therefore have no return benefit to Wales) and enforcement orders, a regulatory tool available to Ofwat is an ‘enforceable undertaking’ or ‘regulatory settlement’ for breaches to these obligations.
Ofwat states that such penalties are usually a faster, more effective measure for customers that ensure the water company complies in the future and provides financial redress for its failure. Regulatory settlements differ from fines in that the money does not go to the Treasury, instead being returned to customers via a bill rebate or going to suitable alternatives to provide redress.
Afonydd Cymru is in a position to manage prioritised delivery of river improvement across Wales. It would, therefore, consider being the recipient of a regulatory settlement where a wider breach of legal duties has occurred.
The decision whether to accept a regulatory settlement would be made by our CEO and Board. Before acceptance, they would need to be satisfied that:
- Every one of Ofwat’s criteria for deciding whether a regulatory settlement is appropriate has been met.
- The benefit or improvement to the environment resulting from the settlement is at least equivalent to the damage caused and over and above the legal requirements.
- The funds could be used to launch a project that will improve rivers in Wales.
- The offending water company had agreed to these conditions and would not attempt to influence work carried out as a result of the settlement or Afonydd Cymru’s public communications.
Following acceptance of a regulatory settlement, any monies received in this way would be listed on our website and would be visible in our accounts. Afonydd Cymru would also issue a publicly available report into how the monies were spent.
Afonydd Cymru, June 2025.