United Utilities has been instructed to enhance its approach to environmental information requests, following queries about a lack of transparency.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) cautioned water companies that "we expect transparency to be your default position", as it directed United Utilities to better its compliance with making environmental information accessible.
Despite being exempt from freedom of information (FOI) requests, water companies are legally required to provide environmental information under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR), both proactively and upon public request.
The regulator revealed that after numerous complaints regarding United Utilities' lack of transparency, its investigation discovered that the company consistently failed to respond to information requests within the legal 20-day timeframe.
It also highlighted that the water company was rejecting requests on the grounds that the requested information was not environmental, for instance, stating that data related to the performance of its water treatment works did not fall within the EIR scope as it pertained to internal equipment operations.
The ICO stated that given it is a water company, the "significant majority" of the information requested from United Utilities would likely be environmental, particularly its operational information.
Warren Seddon, director of FOI at the ICO, remarked: "Any information that would enlighten the public about how United Utilities operates and the impact it has on the environment is, by its very nature, likely environmental - this includes data on sewage spills and the performance of its wastewater treatment works.
"By using such a narrow interpretation of environmental information, United Utilities is deliberately ignoring the bigger picture to avoid their legal obligations to even consider whether to release the information people are legitimately asking for."
In response to this issue, the ICO has laid down a "practice recommendation" urging United Utilities to adopt a broader definition of environmental information and to appropriately process valid Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) applications.
This measure comes on the heels of a communique from John Edwards, the Ƶ Information Commissioner, sent earlier this year to 12 water companies. He emphasised the need for transparency to restore trust in the industry amid increasing disgust over sewage pollution and the general opacity surrounding it.
Mr Seddon said: “Our message to water companies is simple – we expect transparency to be your default position.
“It is unacceptable to keep people in the dark when they have no choice but to rely on these firms for clean water.
“By issuing our first practice recommendation under the EIR, we are holding United Utilities accountable for improving how it communicates with the public,” he stated, urging all water companies to take note of the recommendations.
A spokesperson for United Utilities spokesperson commented: "We handle hundreds of environmental information requests (EIRs) every year and, in a handful of cases, the Information Commissioner's Office clarified that the information we were asked to provide did fall under the scope of EIR.
"We have followed that clarification since we received it several months ago.
"We are receiving an increasing number and wider scope of EIRs and have recruited additional and dedicated resources to help us deal with these," the spokesperson said, adding that in the last 12 months, the company had have issued more than 1.5 million lines of data and answered more than 330 requests.
"We are committed to being more transparent and making information even more accessible and, from November 2024, our website will detail our compliance with our speed of response to EIRs, alongside providing additional areas of open data in the coming months," they said.
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