Defra

That's just 0.3% of Defra's nearly 6,600 full-time-equivalent core staff.

Defra said some of these employees also worked on climate adaptation part-time, and the figures don't include those working in other parts of government.

Defra and Met Office air pollution forecasts, external for the week shows moderate pollution levels quite widely across the UK by Wednesday, especially for England and Wales.

However, it is Defra and the regulators who are jointly responsible for setting the framework the water companies operate under.

Defra told the BBC that the UK government is considering reforms on waste exemptions.