Maria Caulfield MP yesterday voted to back the next stage of the government’s plan to tackle sewage pollution by further strengthening legal requirements.
In August 2022 the government set out its plan which requires the largest infrastructure programme in water company history to tackle sewage overflows. The 60 page plan prioritises investments in priority sites including protected habitats and bathing waters. Since then £1.6 billion investment has been brought forward to speed up vital water infrastructure projects, cutting thousands of overflow spills each year.
Ministers also reconfirmed that they will be unleashing unlimited penalties so that polluters pay for their impact on the environment, with funds now being reinvested into rivers and water bodies. Today’s next step will place the target in the Sewage Overflow Reduction Plan on a statutory footing.
Secretary of State Therese Coffey MP said:
“It was a Conservative government that introduced 100 per cent monitoring of storm overflows. We’ve brought forward stronger regulations, tougher enforcement and the largest water infrastructure programme in history – an expected £56 billion investment – and we will make fines unlimited so that the polluter always pays.”
The Environment Secretary has written to water companies requiring a plan on every overflow on her desk by the end of June. This builds on work to introduce mandatory monitoring, which is up from just 7% in 2010 to 100% by the end of this year. Thanks to this monitoring, regulators are undertaking the largest investigation into water companies in their history related to illegal sewage dumping, building on record fines of £141m secured since 2015.
Maria Caulfield MP said:
“Lewes constituency residents are rightly disgusted by sewage in our rivers, and so am I. I’ve been clear – Southern Water must clean up their act now, and if they don’t I urge ministers to use the full force of the law, including unlimited penalties.”
Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats have committed to introduce a tax on water companies which would take over 500 years to fund their sewage overflow plans.
Maria Caulfield MP continued:
“This is another gimmick from the Liberal Democrats who are not fit to govern.
The people of Lewes constituency deserve better. We are the only party with a clear, costed plan to deal with sewage overflows.”