The Liberal Democrats demand that bonuses for water company chiefs be banned until sewage spills into rivers stops.
The party’s analysis revealed that executive members received 27m in bonuses during the past two years, despite dumping raw sewage into the waterways 1,000 times per day.
The bill, which is a 10-minute rule proposal, was introduced by Tim Farron, former leader of the Lib Dems. It also calls for mandatory targets for sewage discharges to waterways and coastal areas and sets timeframes. It would require quarterly reports about the impact of sewage releases on the environment and place an environmental representative on the water company boards.
Companies House records show that executives of England’s water and sewer companies were paid 48m and 2021 respectively, with 27.6m in bonus, benefits, and incentives.
This is despite recent Environment Agency reports that showed that more than 1,000 sewage dumping events were occurring each day in 2021 and 2020.
Campaigners suggested that money spent on bonuses could be better spent on infrastructure to prevent sewage leaks, which can cause harm to wildlife and human health.
The party demanded that executives return bonuses from last year and that funds be used to clean up sewage leaks.
Ed Davey, the leader of the Lib Dems, stated that the Conservatives allow water companies to pump raw sewage in our precious rivers and lakes, while giving themselves ridiculous bonuses. This will be just like the millions that were paid to bankers during the financial crisis.
Liberal Democrat plans to ban sewage bonuses. This would prevent water company execs from receiving any more bonuses until our waterways are safe from sewage dumps. To clean up their mess, these bosses must return millions of pounds in bonuses.
It’s time to send a clear message to the Conservatives about how they can not allow water company bosses to continue to pump raw sewage into our rivers & beaches.
United Utilities was responsible for the largest executive payouts. It paid bonuses of almost 6m and had the most spills in 2020 and 2021. While dumping sewage 120,000 more times, executives at Severn Trent were awarded 5.5m in bonuses. Yorkshire Water, however, which dumped sewage 135,000 more times, offered bonuses of 3.3m.
This bill is likely create tension among Conservatives. After Tory MPs voted against a ban on sewage flowing into rivers, the government had to make a U turn last year. Later, the government drafted its own legislation that imposes a legal obligation on water companies to prevent sewage leakages.
Rebecca Pow, Environment Minister, said: A holistic approach is key to cleaning up our rivers. Conservatives have taken the strongest steps to tackle this problem through the Environment Act as well as the government’s direction to Ofwat.
