This week will see MPs debating a new law concerning the water industry.
The Water (Special Measures) Bill is designed to give water company regulators new duties and powers to address pollution, poor financial management, and poor outcomes for customers.
The Bill will enable the government and regulators to block the payment of bonuses for water company executives, enable automatic and “severe” fines, and ensure the monitoring of every sewage outlet.
I am working on an amendment alongside Liberal Democrat colleagues to strengthen the Bill, which is still too weak in places.
South West Water has been fined millions of pounds for various environmental offences in the last few years, including for causing the deaths of thousands of fish in the River Axe.
There have been illegal sewage spills and breaches of environmental permits, as well as sewer collapses.
Ofwat’s annual performance report found that South West Water reported an 80 per cent year-on-year increase in serious pollution incidents with a whopping 111 such incidents per 10,000 km of sewer, during 2023-24.
Despite the eye-watering fines and the increase in reports of pollution, South West Water’s total dividend payout for 2024 was an incredible £126.9 million.
This was higher than the previous year’s payout of £111.7 million.
SWW chief executive, Susan Davy, now earns £860,000 after collecting a £298,000 shares bonus last year.
Ms Davy had “foregone” an annual bonus which would have been worth £237,000 in cash and shares, but still picked up the £298,000 long-term performance award.
So much for water company bosses being made to give up their bonuses following poor performance!
Much of this money would be more appropriately spent on essential repairs to the sewage network.
Last week I invited Susan Davy into Parliament to explain sewage spills along our coast – and the lack of transparency in SWW’s monitoring of such pollution.
I was disappointed that Ms Davy argued against monitoring spills on volume rather than on length of time.
Environmental groups tell me that this would be an easy measure to introduce, as well as being more revealing.
I consider that water companies should be made to introduce this increased transparency.
Water companies have been permitted to dump enormous volumes of sewage because the Conservative Government did not equip the regulators – the Environment Agency and Ofwat – to do their jobs properly.
We owe it to all those who enjoy spending time in our rivers and seas – and to our precious marine life – to get this Bill right, and I am working on it!
East Devon Watch 