Stephen Morgan MP has endorsed plans to give Ofwat the power to ban the payment of bonuses to water bosses until they have cleared up their filth, as announced at the Party Conference in Liverpool last week.
It comes as Welsh Water admits spilling untreated sewage near dolphin habitat for decade, the latest iteration in a list of incidents of water companies including Southern Water, discharging sewage into rivers and seas, sometimes illegally on dry days.
Water companies across England and Wales frequently discharge sewage into rivers and seas. Analysis of Environment Agency data shows that in 2022, raw sewage was discharged into Portsmouth’s waters for 1,809 hours, the equivalent of there being a continuous flow of sewage taking place for over two months of the year.
Shadow Environment Secretary, Steve Reed MP, has outlined plans to end years of Conservative negligence and put the water industry under “special measures”. Mr Morgan said the plan would end the sewage crisis “once and for all”.
Expanding the regulatory powers of Ofwat, water bosses who fail to meet high environmental standards on sewage pollution will be met with significant sanctions to ensure they cannot profit from breaking the law.
While the Tories have allowed Britain’s waterways to become an open sewer, under Labour’s new plans, Ofwat would have been able to block six out of nine water bosses’ bonuses last year due to high levels of pollution into our rivers, lakes and seas.
It comes as water companies asked customers to pay an extra £156 a year, despite water bosses pocketing millions in bonuses. According to company reports, executives at UK water companies were paid nearly £10 million in bonuses last year.
Commenting on the plans, City MP Stephen Morgan said:
“The water industry and its regulatory framework are broken after 13 years of Tory government – with stinking, toxic sewage tarnishing Portsmouth’s precious coastline.
“It cannot be right that water bosses are rewarded for incompetence at best, and illegality at worst. That’s why I welcome plans which finally provide a response to this crisis with the severity it deserves.
“Portsmouth people deserve better than a government who allow our waters to be polluted. Labour will end sewage pollution once and for all”.
Steve Reed MP, Labour’s Shadow Environment Secretary, said:
“It is shocking that during a cost-of-living crisis, consumers are now being expected to pay the price, whilst CEOs are pocketing millions in bonuses.
“This Conservative government is too weak to tackle this scandal. They cut back enforcement and monitoring against water companies releasing this filth and are now failing to prosecute bosses when they are blatantly breaking the law.
“Labour will turn the page on years of Conservative negligence. With Labour, the polluter – not the public – will pay. Labour will give Ofwat the powers to ban the payment of bonuses to water bosses until they have cleared up their filth.”
This announcement forms part of Labour’s wider plan to put the water industry under “special measures” to end the Tory sewage scandal by 2030.
This includes:
- Ensure that water bosses will face personal criminal liability for extreme and persistent lawbreaking
- Introducing severe and automatic fines for illegal discharges that water bosses cannot ignore
- Forcing all companies to monitor every single water outlet.
