Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey is “demanding” that water companies share a “clear plan” on how they intend on improving Britain’s water infrastructure.
In a statement released today (Monday, February 20), Coffey called for a clear assessment and action plan on every storm overflow from every water and sewerage company in England.
She has said that those who are spilling more than a certain number of times a year and those spilling into bathing waters and high-priority nature sites will be prioritised.
She has also announced that water companies will face higher penalties that are “quicker and easier to enforce” when caught illegally polluting waters.
Coffey said that the public is concerned about the impacts of sewage entering the UK’s rivers and seas and has made it “crystal clear that this is totally unacceptable”.
“We need to be clear that this is not a new problem. Storm overflows have existed for over a century. The law has always allowed for discharges, subject to regulation,” she said.
“That is how our Victorian sewers are built – wastewater and rain are carried in the same pipe. When it reaches a certain height it pours into another pipe and into rivers.”
Coffey explained that, while the current government was the first to require companies to start comprehensively monitoring their spillage so that nature impacts could be assessed, there is still “significant work to do”.
“Through the largest infrastructure programme in water company history we will tackle the problem at source, with more investment on projects like the new Thames Tideway super sewer,” she said.
“I am making sure that regulators have the powers they need to take action when companies don’t follow the rules, including higher penalties that are quicker and easier to enforce.
“I am now demanding every company to come back to me with a clear plan for what they are doing on every storm overflow, prioritising those near sites where people swim and our most precious habitats.”
Water pollution
Any water company caught polluting waters currently faces enforcement action through the Environment Agency.
Fines of more than £102 million were handed out in 2021 and, last year, it was announced that money from these fines would be re-invested into schemes that benefit the environment, rather than being returned to the Treasury.
However, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has said that criminal prosecutions can take a long time to come to a conclusion, which is why Coffey has announced that penalties will be made easier and quicker to hand out.
The upper limit fines, including one of £250 million, remain on the table for those breaching water pollution laws, the department has warned.
It also confirmed that a public consultation will be held in spring of this year to find an “upper limit that is a real and serious deterrent”.
