This week Owl has posted two articles critical of the government response to tackling sewage pollution. “Raw sewage in rivers to go unchecked”; and “Water giants should be made to pay for spilling sewage”.

In Monday’s edition of the Western Morning News, Defra minister Rebecca Pow, MP for Taunton Deane claimed that the government was “cracking down on those water companies that are not playing their part in delivering the clean water that the people of this country want to see”.

“We’ll crack down on sewage pollution” Minister tells WMN enforcement is a priority

ENVIRONMENT Minister Rebecca Pow has vowed to get tough on the pollution of our rivers and coastal waters and ensure water companies clean up their act when it comes to sewage discharges.

Writing in today’s WMN, Ms Pow said water quality was a top priority for the Government, which was “cracking down on those water companies that are not playing their part in delivering the clean water that the people of this country want to see”.

She argued the South West, like many parts of the country, “has long suffered from an excessive and unacceptable use of storm overflows”, and added: “I have said time and again that the amount of sewage discharge by water companies into our rivers is unacceptable. They need to raise their game and those that do not meet expectations will be held to account.”

The Government says it has reinforced its commitment to taking tough action to improve water quality. Under its Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan, out for consultation, water companies will face strict limits on when they can use storm overflows and must eliminate the harm any sewage discharge causes to the environment.

Water firms are investing £3.1billion in storm overflow improvements by 2025.

Since 2015 the Environment Agency has brought 48 prosecutions against water companies, securing fines of over £137 million. Last year, the Environment Agency and Ofwat launched a major investigation based on evidence that some water companies in England may not be complying with their permits, resulting in excess sewage spills into the environment, even in dry periods. Some of the biggest fines were imposed last year – including a record £90 million fine for Southern Water in July for thousands of illegal discharges.

Additional action on water quality includes almost doubling the budget for Catchment Sensitive Farming. Grants support farmers to develop environmentally sustainable methods that limit the contamination of nearby bodies of water from things like manure or pesticides. The new annual budget will be £30 million, up from £16.6 million in 2020-21. This means it will cover 100% of England’s farmland, up from 40% of its current coverage, with every farmer able to access advice and support by March 2023.

Last October, South West Water defended its record after reporting 200 pollution incidents in 2020 and 42,000 discharges of sewage into waterways due to heavy rain.

Chief executive Susan Davy told the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee 210 pollution hotspots had been identified for improvements.

They fail to answer questions about sex offender.

The longer the silence, the greater the reputational damage – Owl

Joe Ives, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk

The Conservative Party has failed to answer questions about whether it has conducted an enquiry into a former Tory councillor who has been convicted of sex crimes against children.

Former East Devon District and Exmouth town councillor John Humphreys is serving 21 years in prison after being convicted of historic sexual offences against two boys in the early 1990s and early 2000s.

The Conservative group at East Devon District Council (EDDC) insists that any party-led enquiry into the case is a matter for the national party.

However, Conservative central office won’t say if such an enquiry has taken place.

Humphreys was originally arrested in May 2016 but it took over four years for the case to come to court and become publicly known.

A statement read out on behalf of one of Humphreys’ victims last year at a full council meeting said that Humphreys knew that the case was live between  2016 and 2021, during which time he was a councillor.

“This leaves me wondering,” said the victim in his letter, “‘who else knew and how was he allowed to carry on as usual being a councillor at Exmouth and East Devon?’

Council leader Paul Arnott (Independent East Devon Alliance and Democratic Alliance Group, Coly Valley) later wrote to secretary of EDDC Conservatives Phil Twiss (Honiton St. Michael’s), asking if the group had launched an enquiry  into the matter.  He copied senior members of the Conservative Party, including East Devon’s MPs, prime minister Boris Johnson and co-chair of the Conservative party Oliver Dowden.

Cllr Arnott says he has received no response to the letter.

At EDDC’s cabinet meeting earlier this month, councillors raised the lack of response from the Conservative Party, either locally or nationally, on the Humphreys case.

Councillor Jess Bailey (Independent, West Hill and Aylesbeare) said: “The Conservative Party must have practices and procedures around candidates, particularly when they come forward for election, that make declarations.”

Commenting on the Humphreys’s case she added: “Were those declarations not made, or were the declaration made but not true? We just don’t know. We’ve had no information from the party in the past eight-plus months.”

However, Mr Humphreys was already a councillor when he was arrested in 2016, and did not stand for election again.

Councillor Phil Twiss (Honiton St. Michael’s), secretary of EDDC Conservative Group was asked later what practices East Devon Conservatives have for candidates declaring information before elections, and whether the party, locally or nationally, has conducted an investigation into the case and, if so, why it has not been made public.

Unable to answer, Cllr Twiss said: “matters such as this and are dealt with by The Conservative Party and not the EDDC Conservative Group.”

But the Conservative Party has not answered specific questions on the matter,  including whether any enquiry has taken place, despite being asked several times.

A spokesperson said that the party was not aware of the allegations against Mr Humphreys before they became public and that at that point, Mr Humphreys was no longer a member of the party. 

The police investigation into Mr Humphreys, which started in 2016, became public when he appeared in court in November 2020, although he was a councillor until May 2019.

He had previously been questioned about offences connected to one of the teenagers in 2005 but no charges were brought.

There have been allegations that some members of the council knew Mr Humphreys was under investigation while he was still serving at the council before this was public knowledge, between 2016 and November 2020. These allegations have been categorically refuted by EDDC’s Conservative group.

A Liberal Democrat councillor, Eileen Wragg, told a council meeting earlier this month that she “certainly knew.”

In December 2019, whist under investigation, the council gave  Mr Humphries, along with severl other former councillors, the honorary title of alderman. He was stripped of the title last year following his conviction.

East Devon District Council is now establishing an independent investigation into how Humphreys came to be given the award.

After a two-year hiatus, Great Torrington Mayfair was back with a vengeance – and locals couldn’t help but make fun of disgraced MP Neil Parish.

Lewis Clarke www.devonlive.com

The event took place throughout last week, and crowds were in generous spirits for the event and the carnival collected more than £2,000.

The event features carnival floats and a variety of food stalls. One attendee referenced the recent controversy involving a local MP, by steering a tractor through the town with lewd references to pornography attached.

Great Torrington Mayfair celebrations (Credit : John Insull)

Former Tiverton & Honiton MP Neil Parish recently quit his role after being caught watching pornography in the House of Commons. He admitted he had twice watched porn on the Commons benches. The 66-year-old, a farmer by trade, claimed the first time was accidental after looking at tractors online, but the second was “a moment of madness”. He spoke about his achievements over the 12-years he has been an MP, what it is like to be thrust into the national spotlight and his hopes for the constituency’s future.

On the overall event, Doug Smith, chair of the carnival and Mayfair committee said: “The familiar strains from the Silver Band made everybody’s neck hair stand on end and soon we have the spectacle of the parade with our May Queen followed by Maypole dancing by pupils of Bluecoats C of E primary School. The amazing weather encouraged the large crowd and spirits were high.

“The next day saw the return of the infamous Round-the- tree race when fortunately the weather was a little more overcast to help the runners, who were cheered all round the course. Saturday was carnival day when in the evening we were treated to numerous floats and walking entrants and again a rapturous crowd enjoying a much missed event once again.

“To complete it all throughout the week we were treated to the funfair in Barley Grove carpark. My thanks to everyone who really put their backs into this year’s event. The committee, the volunteers, the participants and of course, our residents and guests.”

Britain’s water companies, guilty of polluting our rivers and seas with raw sewage, appear to have been let off the hook once again by the government.

Jawad Iqbal www.thetimes.co.uk

A system proposed by MPs to monitor the volume of human waste pumped into rivers has been rejected by ministers. It means that those running the water industry are being allowed to get away with doing far too little, too late, to tackle pollution, improve water quality and update infrastructure.

Water companies are permitted to release sewage when there is a risk of rainfall overwhelming the network but this is meant to be exceptionally rare. The reality is very different: water companies spilled raw sewage into rivers and the sea more than 1,000 times a day on average last year, according to official data. This feels routine rather than “exceptional”. The water companies gauge the frequency and length of spills but, crucially, do not measure the actual volume of sewage. They claim that volume monitoring is “difficult and expensive”.

Such claims of financial penury are hard to stomach from an industry that has collectively cut investment in waste water and sewage networks by almost a fifth in the 30 years since privatisation. Money that should have been used to improve infrastructure and tackle sewage outflows has gone, in part, into bumper pay packets for water chiefs. To take one example: Liv Garfield, chief executive of Severn Trent, was paid £2.8 million in 2020, including £1.9 million in bonuses.

The water companies are monopoly providers of an essential public service yet no one in authority seems able or willing to get a grip. Under government plans published in March, companies will be required to cut sewage spills by 40 per cent by 2040 and 80 per cent by 2050. That’s effectively a licence for inaction in the short term, but the environmental and public health crisis of contaminated waterways is not looming in the distant future — it is here now.

The Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat) and the Environment Agency need stronger powers to take enforcement action against companies that are failing to deliver. Regulators appear weak and ineffectual against a powerful industry that seems intent on ignoring its wider corporate responsibilities.

Companies should be prevented from paying large bonuses to executives who have failed to curb sewage discharges into rivers and otherwise fallen short on pollution targets. The directors of companies should be held legally accountable for environmental pollution. That would focus minds.