George Eustice, the environment secretary, has announced that water companies will have to invest £56bn over 25 years in a long-term program to tackle stormwater run-off by 2050. This investment will be used to increase the capacity of the companies’ networks and treat wastewater before discharge to protect public health and prevent pollution, while reducing all discharges. Failure to meet those targets, the government said, could lead to companies facing significant fines or having to refund money to customers. But critics say those payouts will end up weighing on customers’ bills and make the public pay as CEOs continue to receive big bonuses. Under government plans, by 2035 water companies will have to improve all stormwater overflows that discharge into or near every designated bathing water, and improve 75% of overflows that discharge into high-priority natural locations. By 2050, this will be the case for all waterways. But according to analysis of the Lib Dem proposals, by 2030 there will still be 325,000 sewage dumps a year on Britain’s beaches, as well as lakes, rivers and chalk streams. Lib Dems environment spokesman Tim Farron said: “This government plan is a license to pump sewage onto our beaches and into our precious rivers and lakes. By the time these weak targets are in place, our beaches will be filled with disgusting sewage, more otters will be poisoned and our children will still be swimming in dangerous waters. “This is a cruel joke. The government is set to raise water bills to pay for cleaning up the mess the water companies are creating. The same companies that gave their executives multi-million pound bonuses this year and paid out over £1 billion to their shareholders. While he’s rolling in cash, we’re swimming in sewage. The whole thing stinks.” The government said that under its plans, bills would not increase until 2025. Sources also said they would not allow companies to profit from environmental damage. Annual bonuses paid to executives at water companies were increased by 20% in 2021, despite most companies failing to meet wastewater pollution targets. The figures show that on average executives received £100,000 in one-off payments on top of their wages during a period when dirty water was pumped into England’s rivers and bathing spots for 2.7 million hours. Eustice said: “This is the first government to take action to end the environmental damage caused by sewage leaks. We will demand that water companies protect everyone who uses our water for recreation and ensure that storm surges do not pose a threat to the environment. “Water companies should invest to stop unacceptable sewage leaks so our rivers and coasts are better protected than ever before.” Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Jim McMahon, the shadow environment secretary, said: “Instead of governing, it is clear that the Conservatives have engaged in fiction writing, as this document is neither a plan, nor does it eliminate the discharge of sewage into our natural environment. According to the government’s weak improvement ‘target’, based on last year’s figures, we will face another 4.8 million sewage spills in our country between now and 2035. “Last year Tory MPs had the chance to vote for meaningful legislative action but blocked measures that would have phased out the discharge of raw sewage into our natural environment. “Britain deserves better than a zombie Tory government who are happy for our country to be treated like an open sewer. Labor will use the levers of power to hold reckless water bosses to account legally and financially and toughen regulations to prevent them from gaming the system.” Stuart Singleton-White, head of campaigns at the Angling Trust, said: “Defra’s claim of the most stringent targets ever for water companies… sounds impressive. It isn’t, and the government knows this is a weak plan that falls short of what is needed. Additionally, this plan falls short of commitments made in the Environment Act and fails to take into account the recommendations of its own storm surge task force. “This is a government trying to get away from a problem it feels it needs to deal with only from a public relations point of view. Our rivers and coasts are paying the price for this complacency and the public is angry.”
