Water bosses could face prison time over sewage dumping under new law
Water company bosses could face time in prison for repeatedly polluting the UK’s rivers and seas, under new legislation set out by the government.
The Water (Special Measures) Bill will outline Labour’s approach to tackling the widespread dumping of sewage in British waterways, including new powers for the regulators to ban massive bonuses.
Campaigners and politicians have urged tougher action on the industry with some, including the Green Party, calling for it to be brought into public ownership.
Last year, there were 3.6 million hours of raw sewage spills into bodies of water in England – more than double the figure recorded in 2022.
Such spills can cause serious damage to local wildlife and illness in people who spend time in the water, such as swimmers and surfers.
Even the country’s most famous beauty spots have been unable to avoid the impacts of the spills. In February, sewage was illegally pumped into Windermere in the Lake District for 10 hours, BBC News reported.
And analysis from Friends of the Earth recently found that more than a quarter of spills into England’s seas last year took place less than three kilometres from bathing sites.
Southern Water was fined £330,000 for an hours-long sewage dump in Hampshire which killed 2,000 fish in 2019, and Thames Water discharged more than two billion litres of raw sewage into the London river over two days in October 2020.
The new bill would increase the Environment Agency’s ability to bring criminal charges against water executives who break the law.
Only three individuals have been prosecuted without appeal by the agency since privatisation, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said.
Environment Secretary Steve Reed said: ‘The public are furious that in 21st century Britain, record levels of sewage are being pumped into our rivers, lakes and seas. After years of neglect, our waterways are now in an unacceptable state.
‘That is why today I am announcing immediate action to end the disgraceful behaviour of water companies and their bosses.
‘Under this government, water executives will no longer line their own pockets whilst pumping out this filth. If they refuse to comply, they could end up in the dock and face prison time.’
He said further legislation is on the way to ‘fundamentally transform how the water industry is run’ and speed up upgrades on infrastructure.
The introduction of the new bill was welcomed by regulators Ofwat and the Environment Agency.
Ofwat Chief Executive David Black said the proposed legislation ‘strengthens our powers and will help us drive transformative change in the water industry’.
Alan Lovell, chair of the Environment Agency, added: ‘The stronger penalties introduced by the bill will deter illegal behaviour and allow us to close the justice gap and strengthen our ability to deliver swift enforcement action.’
But Louise Reddy, policy officer for campaign group Surfers Against Sewage, called for more significant action from ministers.
She said: ‘We are pleased to hear from the new government that they intend to tackle sewage spills and that there will be further action to do this.
‘However, as it stands, these commitments will only scratch the surface of the problem. They need a root and branch review into the water system to find and tackle the problems at its core.
‘The time to act is now, the government must fix the problem not just apply sticking plasters.’
What is in the new water bill?
The Water (Special Measures) Bill would bring in four main changes in an effort to incentivise industry bosses to tackle the problem of pollution.
- Tougher penalties: At the moment, the maximum penalty for most cases of obstruction is a fine. The bill would introduce the threat of imprisonment for executives who break the law.
- Banning bonuses: Regulator Ofwat would be able to stop the payment of performance-related bonuses to bosses and senior leaders unless they meet high standards on the environment, their consumers, financial resilience and criminal liability.
- Toughen up fines: The Environment Agency currently faces a bunch of obstacles to issuing fines for minor, frequent offences. The new bill would lower the standard of proof to the civil rather than criminal standard and make several offences subject to automatic penalties, removing the need for lengthy investigations.
- Boost monitoring: Water companies will be required to publish real-time data for every emergency overflow in England in a ‘clear, accessible format’.
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