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Planning applications validated by EDDC for week beginning 8 August

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Sewage monitors at UK seaside resorts either faulty or not installed, data reveals

According to the Environment Agency data analysed by the Liberal Democrats, sewage monitors installed by UK water firms did not work “90% of the time” or had not been installed at all.

news.sky.com 

Water companies have been accused of failing to monitor how much sewage is being pumped into the sea.

According to the Environment Agency data analysed by the Liberal Democrats, sewage monitors installed by UK water firms did not work “90% of the time” or had not been installed at all.

Dozens of pollution warnings were put in place across beaches and swimming spots in England and Wales this week after heavy rain overwhelmed sewer systems, leading water companies to release sewage into the natural environment.

Ministers are under pressure to clamp down on the water firms which are being criticised for not investing money back into the UK’s outdated water infrastructure.

The data shows Anglian Water has the highest rate of failure, with 49% of all its sewage discharges not measured due to faulty or no monitors installed, according to the Lib Dems.

This is followed by South West Water with 30% and Severn Trent Water with 29%.

One in eight of South West Water’s sewage monitors installed at designated bathing locations across Cornwall and Devon are either faulty or not installed, the party said.

In Sussex, Southern Water was found to have altogether failed to install one at the popular seaside spot of Littlehampton Pier while one in Seaford was working only a third of the time.

The Lib Dems’ environment spokesperson, Tim Farron MP, said: “These water companies could be guilty of gross negligence by failing to install sewage monitors.

“This is a national scandal and these new figures stink of a cover-up. Britain’s seaside resorts are being swamped by foul sewage yet the government is nowhere to be found.”

In response to the issue, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs released a response earlier this week outlining the action it is taking.

Water minister Steve Double said: “We are the first government to take action to tackle sewage overflows.

“We have been clear that water companies’ reliance on overflows is unacceptable and they must significantly reduce how much sewage they discharge as a priority.

“This is on top of ambitious action we have already taken including consulting on targets to improve water quality which will act as a powerful tool to deliver cleaner water, pushing all water companies to go further and faster to fix overflows.

“Work on tackling sewage overflows continues at pace and we will publish our plan in line with the 1 September statutory deadline.”

Watch video on Sky News

An Anglian Water spokesperson said: “Following over £300m of investment in the last decade, all but three of the places designated for bathing in our region are rated as good or excellent for bathing water quality, and all have EDM monitors installed on them.

“Work to install EDM monitors on all the CSOs (combined sewer overflows) across our region is ahead of target as part of our Water Industry National Environment Programme as agreed with the Environment Agency.

“We will have full coverage across all CSOs by the end of 2023.”

Southern Water, South West Water and Severn Trent Water have been asked to comment.

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England’s highly paid water bosses rake it in from lucrative second jobs

Susan Davy, boss of Pennon Group, owner of South West Water, which was spilling sewage and stormwater into seas around Devon and Cornwall last week, is on the board of data management firm Restore plc. She was paid £53,000 by the firm last year, sitting on a remuneration committee.

Jon Ungoed-Thomas www.theguardian.com 

Some of the highly paid bosses of England’s water companies are earning tens of thousands of pounds in second boardroom jobs, advising on the pay deals of other top executives.

Five of the chief executives of England’s nine water and sewerage companies are also working as non-executive directors in other firms, sitting on remuneration committees.

Campaigners say it is inappropriate for water bosses to be helping to fix the pay and bonuses of senior executives in other companies.

Nicola Shaw, who was appointed head of Yorkshire Water in May, is also on the board of International Airlines Group (IAG), which owns British Airways. She sits on its remuneration and safety committees, earning €123,000 (£115,000) last year.

Yorkshire Water said this weekend that Shaw’s second boardroom role did not affect her commitment to improving water services.

Susan Davy, boss of Pennon Group, owner of South West Water, which was spilling sewage and stormwater into seas around Devon and Cornwall last week, is on the board of data management firm Restore plc. She was paid £53,000 by the firm last year, sitting on a remuneration committee.

An analysis by the Liberal Democrats revealed last week that the average water company boss’s total pay rose by 20% in 2021, despite most firms failing to meet sewage pollution targets. The party said the pay packages were a “national scandal”.

Andy Prendergast, national secretary of the GMB union, which has criticised the level of pay and bonuses given to water bosses, said: “This country is facing a water crisis and the fact that those paid fortunes to deal with it have enough time to moonlight in second jobs beggars belief.

“At a time of hosepipe bans and sewage discharges, we deserve that those paid high salaries devote their time to putting it right. The fact their second roles largely involve green-lighting massive salary increases for other bosses is scandalous.”

The performance of water companies is under mounting scrutiny as drought has been declared across large swaths of the country. The Environment Agency reported in July that “the environmental performance of England’s nine water and sewerage companies was the worst we have seen for years”.

Swimmers were warned of sewage and stormwater flowing on to beaches last week, mainly on the south coast. A Labour party analysis has found that water companies have spent more than 9 million hours discharging raw sewage and stormwater into the country’s rivers and seas since 2016.

Other water bosses with non-executive roles include Sarah Bentley, boss of Thames Water, who was paid more than £2m last year. She is a non-executive director of Lloyds Bank, sitting on the remuneration committee. Thames Water and Lloyds Bank declined a request from the Observer last week to disclose any fees paid to her.

Heidi Mottram, who earns £648,000 a year as boss of Northumbrian Water, is a non-executive director of the energy firm Centrica, where she was paid £93,000 last year. She sits on three committees, including the remuneration committee.

Steve Mogford, who was paid £3.2m last year as boss of north-west water firm United Utilities, started as non-executive director of the defence firm Qinetiq this month. Mogford, a former senior executive at the defence giant BAE Systems, sits on four committees, including the remuneration committee.

Luke Hildyard, executive director of the High Pay Centre, a thinktank that researches on issues around the pay of senior executives and corporate governance, said: “Most people would be astounded if they realised that pay levels for chief executives are set by committees made up of other chief executives and people in similar roles.

“The justification for paying such large salary packages to company chief executives is that they are doing such important and demanding work. This is undermined if they have time to sit on the boards of other major companies.”

On Monday the High Pay Centre will launch its annual review of executive pay in the country’s top companies. It is calling for more representation from a company’s workforce on remuneration committees.

It is not unusual for company heads to accept non-executive roles and employers say it can provide fresh insights for senior bosses. There can, however, be concerns about the level of commitment required.

In February 2015 Liv Garfield, the chief executive of Severn Trent, announced she was standing down as non-executive director of Tesco. She said she wanted to “concentrate fully” on her chief executive role at the water company.

Water companies said last week that the other jobs performed by their CEOs are properly disclosed.

A Thames Water spokesperson said: “Sarah Bentley’s role as a non-executive director is in the public domain. The insight and perspective that she gets from her role at Lloyds, given their turnaround, is valuable to her role at Thames Water and was approved by our board when she joined in 2020.”

Yorkshire Water said Nicola Shaw’s work at IAG did not “impact on her role” at the water firm. A spokesperson said: “In fact, as for many other executive directors who hold similar positions, the role brings back knowledge and experience from other industries that we can take learnings from.”

None of the water companies responded to a request to provide the hours their chief executives worked each month on their other boardroom roles.

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Government ‘has lost the plot’ over plan for GPs to prescribe heating bill discounts

Labour has accused the government of having “lost the plot” over plans for GPs to prescribe people cash to pay their energy and heating bills.

Jon Stone www.independent.co.uk

Officials in the Treasury reportedly want family doctors to assess whether sick or elderly people need a discount heating their homes.

The idea, reported in the Sun on Sunday newspaper, is said to be one of a number being discussed in government to help with the cost of living.

But shadow health secretary Wes Streeting warned the plan would simply put more pressure on the NHS over the winter.

“The Conservatives have lost the plot on the cost of living crisis and haven’t got a clue about the level of pressure on the NHS,” he said.

Mr Streeting said Labour “already has the right prescription for dealing with rising energy bills”. The opposition says it would pay energy companies to freeze the energy price cap where it is.

This would head off expected increases to over £3,000 over the winter.

The Liberal Democrats have come forward with a similar proposal, while the Green Party says prices are already too high and should be cut to last year’s levels.

Treasury officials apparently believe using GPs to target energy bill discounts will save money money because it will help target cash at people who need it most.

On Sunday afternoon the British Medical Association (BMA) said they “completely reject” the policy and branded the government’s approach to policymaking “deeply unprofessional”.

Dr David Wrigley, BMA England’s GP committee deputy chair, said: “At a time when GPs are already overwhelmed with the greatest workforce crisis and longest waiting lists in memory, this addition to their workload is totally unacceptable.

“It beggars belief that Government ministers think it is appropriate to suggest GPs undertake this work.”

He added that GPs “do not have the time or the skills to do the work of the welfare system”.

“In these next few months GPs already have to worry about delivering the Covid and flu vaccination programmes that will be necessary to see the NHS through the winter, on top of their daily crushing workload and the enormous Covid backlog we now see,” he added.

“The Government has not discussed this with us in any form – floating these sorts of proposals via the media is deeply unprofessional. We completely reject any suggestion that GPs do this work.”

The government has offered little in the way of concrete policies on cost-of-living since the Spring, with the Conservatives focusing on a party leadership contest.

New proposals are expected from whoever wins the contest next month, with an emergency budget expected in the autumn.

The Times newspaper meanwhile reports that the National Grid is taking action and planning to reward customers for shifting power-hungry activities to low-demand times.

It will ask regulator Ofgem to let it pay customers to shift tumble-drying and dish-washing to overnight. The grid operator hopes the scheme will be in place by October if approved.

The latest forecast for the energy bill price cap warns that bills could soar as high as £6,000 by April.

Consultancy Auxilione says that the cap is expected to reach £3,576 in October, rising to £4,799 in January, and eventually hitting £6,089 in April.

Until April this year the cap was just £1,277, but prices have been pushed up by the war in Ukraine and a surge in demand caused by the reopening of economies after Covid-19 lockdowns.

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Today Torbay: Warning to swimmers as sewer pollution alert issued 

Swimmers are being urged not to enter the water in three different areas of Torbay today due to the likelihood of reduced water quality. An interactive map shared by Safer Seas & Rivers Service, which looks at water quality at over 400 locations around UK rivers and coastlines, highlights the locations across the UK which have pollution warnings in place today (Sunday, August 21).

[These releases are ‘typically 95 per cent rainwater’ is what Southern Water says. Don’t think about the residual 5% – Owl]

Chloe Parkman www.devonlive.com

According to the map, Paignton Sands, Preston Sands and Goodrington all have a pollution risk alert in place. A statement on the interactive map reads: “Paignton Preston Sands. Pollution risk warning: bathing not advised today due to the likelihood of reduced water quality.

“Preston Sands is a large, popular sandy beach backed by a large town green and the town of Preston. There is a sewer overflow that discharges at the northern end of the beach from the Preston Green Attenuation Tank.”

Another statement outlining the pollution risk at Paignton Sands reads: “Bathing not advised today due to the likelihood of reduced water quality. Paignton Sands is a long and sandy resort beach with a harbour at the southern end and a pier to the north. There are two sewer overflows located on Paignton Sands – one at the southern end of the beach and another offshore of the harbour.”

A third statement outlining the pollution risk at Goodrington reads: “Bathing not advised today due to the likelihood of reduced water quality. Goodrington is a popular sandy beach resort making up part of the Devon Riviera backed by Goodrington Park Gardens with rock pools at low tide.

“There is one sewer overflow discharging directly onto the beach in the middle of Goodrington while another discharges 500m upstream in the Goodrington Stream that then meets the sea towards the southern end of the beach.”

For more information visit Surfers Against Sewage here.

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BMA requests further £150k GP income declaration delay from next April

The BMA has said it has requested a ‘further suspension’ of the requirement for GPs to declare income above £150,000, which is currently due to launch in April.

Costanza Potter www.pulsetoday.co.uk 

The requirement was originally delayed due to the pandemic and then again in November and April this year, when GPs faced the first and second deadlines to submit declarations.

As it stands, the pay transparency regulations will come into force in April 2023 – but the BMA has said it is pushing for a further delay.

Its latest GP Committee bulletin said: ‘Currently, the individuals in scope of the regulations introduced in October 2021 will need to make a declaration of their 2021/2022 earnings in April 2023 as the provision remains in the GP contract.

‘Individuals within scope of the pay transparency provisions are not required to take any action in relation to their 2020/21 NHS earnings at this stage.’

It added: ‘We continue to request further suspension of the requirement to declare earnings as we believe this is harmful to morale in the profession and could lead colleagues to reduce their working commitments or retire.

‘We also believe that it is inequitable to single out general practice for this requirement.’

A Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) spokesperson told Pulse that ‘further information on the implementation of pay transparency in general practice will be made in due course’.

What are the GP pay declaration requirements?

Under regulations published in September, GPs and their staff with NHS earnings above £150,000 are required to declare them annually.

The 2020 updated GP contract revealed that GPs who earn more than £150,000 per year in pensionable income – including partners, salaried GPs and locums – will be ‘listed by name and earnings bands’ publicly. 

But the BMA confirmed in November that salaried GPs were not covered by the requirement to declare earnings above the threshold.

It also said that it was ‘unclear’ how NHS England would ‘police’ declarations and that any evidence sourced for monitoring via ‘illegitimate means’ will be ‘open to legal challenge’.

GPs were told they would have to submit self-declarations annually, starting with income for 2019/20 by 12 November 2021 and then make declarations by 30th April for every subsequent financial year.

The threshold will rise to £153,000 for the financial year 2020/21, £156,000 for 2021/22, £159,000 for 2022/23 and £163,000 for 2023/24.

The BMA previously said that GPs have been ‘singled out’ and that the launch of the requirement ‘breached’ its contract agreement with commissioners.

And GP leaders had previously argued that this is an attempt to name and shame GPs. They pointed out that it does not reflect the hours they work, and warned it could fuel anti-GP sentiment among the public who believe family doctors are paid too much.

The legislation, which came into force on 1 October 2021, was first announced in 2019 as part of the five-year GP contract.

But GPs have been required to publish average individual net earnings on their practice website since 2016/17, following a previous move to increase transparency on earnings.

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Labour surges as Tory fears grow over Truss’s tax cut agenda

Truss – the runaway leader in the contest to be the next Tory party leader and prime minister – is insisting she will resist more “handouts” to those struggling most with the cost of living, an approach she describes as “Gordon Brown economics”.

Instead, she says, she will use tax cuts as a way to boost the economy – despite warnings from economists and senior Tory colleagues that this will merely stoke and embed inflation.

Toby Helm www.theguardian.com

Senior Tories have warned that their party will suffer dire electoral consequences under a Liz Truss premiership that fails to address the cost of living crisis, as Labour enjoys a poll bounce suggesting Keir Starmer could be on course for No 10.

Amid signs of mounting panic among high-ranking Conservatives about Truss’s economic policies, several former cabinet ministers told the Observer on Saturday the party would suffer devastating losses in blue and red wall seats unless Truss changes tack, if and when she enters No 10.

After Michael Gove described Truss’s plan to focus on cutting taxes as a “holiday from reality” and announced he was supporting Rishi Sunak, the latest Opinium poll for the Observer gives Labour and its leader a double poll boost, days after he backed a complete freeze on energy bills this autumn. Labour now enjoys its biggest Opinium poll lead in months – eight points – while Starmer has surged well ahead of Truss in the past two weeks when voters are asked who would be the best prime minister.

Two weeks ago 29% of all voters said Truss would be the best PM, against 28% who chose Starmer. This weekend, Truss has dropped to 23% while Starmer, who announced his price cap policy only last Monday, has increased his score to 31%. When the choice was Starmer versus Sunak, 29% backed Starmer and 23% Sunak.

A poll on Saturday for the Times by YouGov, whose current methodology tends to give Labour a higher figure than Opinium’s, showed Starmer’s party enjoying its biggest lead in 10 years, on 43% – 15 points ahead of the Conservatives on 28%.

Truss – the runaway leader in the contest to be the next Tory party leader and prime minister – is insisting she will resist more “handouts” to those struggling most with the cost of living, an approach she describes as “Gordon Brown economics”.

Instead, she says, she will use tax cuts as a way to boost the economy – despite warnings from economists and senior Tory colleagues that this will merely stoke and embed inflation.

In an interview in this weekend’s Observer New Review, the former Tory chancellor Kenneth Clarke describes the Truss approach as “nonsense” and “simplistic”.

Clarke says: “Everybody would do it if that worked. There’s a slight touch of the Argentinian or Venezuelan government about it. This is not a time for tax cuts because we have enormous public debts. Tax cuts will stimulate growth in demand, but the problems are with the difficulties in supply, so they will push inflation further up.”

Already, the deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab, and the former Tory leader Michael Howard have gone public to criticise Truss’s approach.

Gove said going down the tax-cutting route would benefit those least in need, and fail the poorest: “The answer to the cost of living crisis cannot be simply to reject further ‘handouts’ and cut tax. Proposed cuts to national insurance would favour the wealthy, and changes to corporation tax apply to big businesses, not small entrepreneurs.

“I cannot see how safeguarding the stock options of FTSE 100 executives should ever take precedence over supporting the poorest in our society, but at a time of want it cannot be the right priority.”

Another former Cabinet colleague of Gove and Truss, who is backing Sunak, said: “If Liz does not change tack and back a real economic package that does more to help those in need, I think we will be in big trouble. But to do so she will need to go back on what she has said in the leadership campaign, which will not be without consequences either.”

A former minister added: “We can write off those ‘blue wall’ seats under Liz. Cutting taxes won’t help us win support in the ‘red wall’ either. You can’t cut taxes and level up.”

Reacting to Gove’s announcement, a spokesperson for the Sunak campaign said the former chancellor was “delighted to have the support of a party and cabinet veteran who has incredible intellectual heft and has shown the radical reforming zeal in every job he has had, that we now so desperately need”.

He added: “Michael also understands the severity of the challenges we face in the winter and we need honesty about that and a plan to tackle it and support people, which Rishi has.”

Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats have set up a new “attack Truss unit”, to highlight what they say is her failure to help people with energy costs, in the hope of winning over more voters in the blue wall seats in which they came second to the Conservatives at the 2019 general election.

In his interview, Clarke predicts a serious recession that will be made worse by the wrong tax policies, and suggests that under Truss the country could be in a desperate economic situation at the next election.

“I’ve felt for some time that we’re bound to have a very severe recession. And if we’re not careful, it’s going to be combined with very bad inflation, which does social, as well as economic, damage. Living standards generally are going to fall for the first time for a long time, and the main short-term measures should be to stop us seeing any increase in the number of people becoming destitute in this country. The government shouldn’t be asking themselves, what is the Daily Mail going to be saying tomorrow, but what is the economy going to look like in a couple of years’ time when we have an election?”

The Sunak campaign believes the polls suggesting Truss is home and dry in the leadership race are wrong, and is convinced the ex-chancellor is still in with a chance and is making up ground.

Opinium found that 62% of people support Labour’s policy of freezing energy bills. About 40% of respondents said they would not be able to afford the rise in the cap due to be announced by the energy regulator Ofgem this week without falling behind on other essential bills.

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Cornwall: Man critically ill after waiting 15 hours in rain for an ambulance

A man is critically ill in hospital after being left in the rain over night for 15 hours while waiting for an ambulance. 87-year-old David Wakeley’s family tried to shield him from the elements with a tarpaulin and umbrellas after being told not to move him.

[Liz Truss personally supported cuts to the NHS, arguing the service “cannot be put on a pedestal” in an article in which she also criticised the “inexorable” rise in doctors’ pay. See here.]

Stay safe! – Owl

Neil Shaw www.cornwalllive.com

Retired welder David Wakeley, 87, who has prostate cancer, is fighting for his life as a result of the serious fall and the long wait in the rain. Son-in-law Trevor Crane, 64, told The Mirror : “The system is just broken.

“As a family we know the NHS staff are great and trying their best but you have to ask how things like this keep happening? It just seems like no one cares and no one is willing to fix it.”

David, who lives in the Cornwall village of Indian Queens, was forced to wait on a cold concrete floor in his garden in the wind and rain under a makeshift shelter because there were no ambulances to help him. He had seven fractured ribs, a pelvis fractured in two places, grazes to his head and a bad cut to his arm.

The first call to 999 was made at 7:34pm on Monday night but an ambulance did not turn up until 11am on Tuesday morning – a total of 15 hours and 24 minutes. David’s family improvised after call handlers insisted their dad could not be moved in case they made things worse.

Son Phil Wakeley, 58, and his sister Karen, 61, got help from neighbours. Phil said: “For an 87-year-old man to be waiting that long on a cold, concrete floor, it is not nice I can assure you.

“I got through it by taking it step by step and focusing on dad and what he needed but I kept thinking this would be bad enough if he was a youngster but we are talking about an old, frail man here who feels the cold.

“It was so difficult to deal with but we did the best we could with what was available, it was horrible.”

He said: “We had to try and make the best of a very bad situation so we managed to get some pillows under him but obviously he was in a lot of pain so we have to do it little by little. We kept ringing to try and find out when the ambulance was coming and we just kept getting put off.

“It struck us that although the weather was ok rain was due to come in so we had to adapt as best we could so we got the neighbour’s football goal posts, I found a tarpaulin sheet in the garage, and we pulled that over the goal and made a bit of a tent.

“But it wasn’t enough for the rain so we ended up having to find three umbrellas just so we could make sure he was dry.

“At one stage he was in so much pain I had to massage his back because it was aching so badly, all the time just trying to reassure him and make him as comfortable as possible.

“He has prostate cancer so he has to wear a bag with a catheter so we had to empty that throughout the night and try and keep his spirits up.

“Because he’s old and suffering from cancer he feels the cold quite a bit but recently we got him a heated blanket and I am so thankful we did because I think that got him through the early hours in the end as the temperatures were falling rapidly.

“All the time we were just waiting, hoping, the ambulance would come soon so this man could get the good care he deserved.”

Phil and his Karen stayed by their dad’s side although they insisted their mum Marlene, 82, go to bed. They are now spending as much time as they can by their dad’s bedside in hospital and “hoping and praying” he pulls through.

Phil said: “I can’t criticise the NHS, I think what they do is great, the paramedics that eventually got here were first class. But there is clearly a big problem with the system overall.

“When my mum went to visit him in hospital yesterday she saw about 20 ambulances idling outside, just waiting, what is happening there, it is just not acceptable. We are still in a state of distress and upset about what happened, I was just thinking throughout the night “I want this ambulance to come quick please’, we haven’t even got the anger yet, we are still just so upset about what has happened to dad and are hoping he pulls through.

“We are a very close family and love our dad very much, we just got together and worked as a team to help him the best we could to help when he needed us.

“You hear other people’s stories but when it happens to you it is just so scary. All we could do is focus on dad and make sure he made it.

“We are now just focused on dad, he has had a lot of painkillers put into him, and it is just a waiting game really. We are just hoping he pulls through and hope it makes it full recovery, we are just hoping and praying at the moment but understand this is not going to be a quick fix and 15 hours on the floor will not have helped him.”

Son-in-law Trevor, who himself suffered a nine-hour wait for an ambulance when suffered a blood infection insisted the Government must do more to abate the social care crisis. He said: “The hospitals are just too full, it feels like they just can’t take you in and if they can’t you have to wait.

“The Government need to address this and provide far more nursing home and care facilities so that if someone does need to come it should never be a problem. Right now all we can do is focus on David and just hope he gets better.”

A spokesperson for the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly’s integrated care system said: “Like other parts of the country, our health and care system continues to experience pressure. ’The reasons for this are complex, including high demand for primary and secondary care, mental health services and adult social care.

“Our teams continue to work together to support people who need our care and we encourage people to use the most appropriate service – including your local pharmacy, minor injury units or 111 online – to keep our emergency departments and 999 service available for people with urgent and life-threatening needs.”

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Exmouth, Sidmouth, Torbay – Seafront plans, compare and contrast!

Torbay seafront plans inch forward

Planners in Torbay are calling on residents to give their views about the future of Paignton and Preston seafronts.

It follows fears of flooding caused by climate change but earlier plans met with a storm of protest with some locals describing them as being like a “Berlin Wall.” 

Philip Churm, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk 

Plans for Paignton Seafront, Promenade (Image: LDA)

After taking on independent design consultancy firm, LDA, Torbay went back to the drawing board and redrafted the plans.

The public consultation, launched on Friday, is now in its third and final phase and it is the last opportunity for residents to give their views. 

More than 450 people took part in the second phase of consultations and Torbay Council is hoping for a similar response this time around. 

Councillor Mike Morey (Ind, Furzeham with Summercombe), cabinet member for infrastructure, environment and culture, said: “It has been great to hear from so many residents and businesses about the plans LDA Design have put together for these two popular seafronts. 

“All of our wonderful coastline brings people to the area, but this part of the Bay is under threat from rising sea levels. 

Plans for Preston Seafront, Promenade (Image: LDA)

“This is why LDA Design are helping us to explore the type of sea defences that are right to protect the town from flooding.”

He urged any residents with an interest in the seafronts or who have been affected by flooding to look at the plans and give their views. 

Images of the proposed seafront at Paignton show a wide, pedestrianised promenade on the harbour side of the pier. 

Designs for Preston include wide pavements and flowerbeds while the Redcliffe side will have  a cycle lane and words from the ‘Paignton Poet’ carved into stone.    

It is hoped that £4.6 million has been secured for the project from the Environment Agency, Section 106 and Future High Streets funding. 

Visitors will still be able to park on Paignton seafront with 115 spaces available including 16 disabled spaces but there will be a loss of 93 spaces.

Residents who want to give their thoughts and ideas on the plans are encouraged to go to Torbay Council’s website. 

Construction should begin towards the end of next year.

Torbay seafront plans (Image: LDA)

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Tributes paid to East Devon councillor Val Ranger

“Goodbye Val. We will do our best to follow in your footsteps.” – Paul Arnott

Dan Wilkins http://www.midweekherald.co.uk 

Tributes have been made to East Devon District Council’s (EDDC) Vice Chair Councillor Val Ranger who died on August 2.

EDDC’s Leader Cllr Paul Arnott said: “Val was one of those extraordinary characters whose premature loss is being deeply felt by hundreds of people, both in East Devon and beyond.

“Although being a district councillor meant that she was partly a political figure, the kind, courteous and patient way she had with members from all backgrounds marked her out as a very special human being, evident inside and well beyond the council chamber.

“Very many of us simply adored her for her calmness and wit, while also appreciating her true grit and determination to resist and flush out cant, from whatever quarter, which was the cornerstone of both her campaigning and her case work.

“Ultimately, we will always love her for who she was, a unique, incredibly hard-working person with a radiant, smiling personality, the wisest of counsels to people of all ages.

“Our profound sympathies go to her family, in particular to her two adult sons Richard and Chris, who I hope are already taking considerable comfort from the flood of warm testimonies being paid to their mum.

“Goodbye Val. We will do our best to follow in your footsteps.”

Val’s family has decided they will be having a small private funeral which will take place in the coming weeks.

A public memorial service is to be held to remember Val on Saturday, September 17, between 12.30pm and 4pm at The Pavilion, Newton Poppleford playing fields. 

Everyone is welcome to attend (smart dress code) the memorial service to pay their respect – there will be an informal service, allowing anyone who would like to say a few words or share a readings, to stand with Val’s family and friends to remember and mourn Val.

This will then be followed by an afternoon tea – something Val loved – allowing everyone to remember Val in the way she would have wanted by sharing stories and memories.

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Dartmoor and South Hams included in Plymouth freeport area

Dartmoor to be re-industrialised under “permitted development rights”?

Why does the Plymouth “Freeport” have to include most of West Devon?

Looks unbelievably dangerous for the environment.- Owl

William Telford www.devonlive.com

Tax-break industrial sites with relaxed planning rules could be set up anywhere in the South Hams or on Dartmoor as part of Plymouth’s new freeport, it has emerged. The Government has set a vast boundary for the project which stretches from Devonport to Dartmouth, Salcombe to Okehampton, and incorporates all of the moor and the entire South Hams.

Ministers have revealed the extensive boundary for the freeport on a map, leading to concerns being raised from some environmentalists and critics of the freeport programme. It came as a surprise because it had been said that the freeport would involve just three Plymouth sites: at Oceansgate in Devonport, Sherford and Langage.

But it has now been explained that these are what are termed “tax sites”, where businesses can benefit from a range of tax benefits including paying less when buying land and avoiding National Insurance payments for newly employed workers. The three sites are also what is called “customs sites”, where businesses don’t have to pay tariffs on some goods they import.

There can only be three tax sites, and there must be at least one customs site, or “free zone”, in any freeport. But the freeport company could seek to create more customs sites within the extensive outer boundary.

However, the Plymouth and South Devon Freeport stressed it is “categorically not the case” that the entire area on the map has been earmarked for development or has any special planning status. A spokesperson said: “The outer boundary does not confer any special planning or regulatory status.”

The freeport explained that any new customs site would still need to fit within a “rigorous planning process”, including the suitability of the area for any businesses, and existing local authority restrictions and prohibitions. In Dartmoor’s case this would mean it having to fit with it being within a national park and an area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB).

But an individual new customs site could, in theory, benefit from relaxed planning regulation. The Government’s own website highlights relaxed planning rules for customs sites. It said freeports will “provide a supportive planning environment for the development of tax and customs sites through an extension of permitted development rights and incentivising use of local development orders.”

Permitted development rights allow certain building works and changes of use to be carried out without the need for a full planning application. And local development orders allow local authorities to give permitted development rights for specific types of development in defined locations.

The freeport boundary maps published by the Government drew concern on social media and from some commentators. Twitter campaigner Stan Fontan called them “deregulation zones” and in the Guardian, writer George Monbiot questioned why the Plymouth and South Devon Freeport boundary needed to be so extensive and said that what the boundary means is “as clear as mud”, criticising the Government for “opacity” around freeports. PlymouthLive has also been approached by readers asking what it all means.

The blue line is the boundary of the Plymouth and South Devon Freeport area, the red dots are the tax and customs sites at Devonport, Sherford and Langage (Image: http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maps-of-uk-freeports)

A spokesperson for Plymouth and South Devon Freeport explained that the furthest permitted distance between any two sites in a freeport is 45km, hence the outer boundary. The spokesperson said: “Only three tax sites will ever be created as part of the Plymouth and South Devon Freeport and these were defined at bid stage and confirmed with the Government during both the outline and full business case process. Two sites (South Yard and Sherford) have been designated and one (Langage) is to be designated in the autumn.

“No further tax sites will be allowed – we have included the maximum number of tax sites permissible (three) as part of the bidding process and these have been confirmed by the Government.”

But the spokesperson confirmed that “dependent on need” the freeport could look to HM Revenue and Customs to designate further custom sites within the outer boundary in the future. However, the spokesperson stressed: “To be clear, any planning for customs sites would follow the standard rigorous planning processes including suitability of the area, local authority restrictions and prohibitions including those in the national park and AONBs, and in consultation and agreement with relevant parties.

“Planning for any future custom site(s) will follow the usual planning processes. The current freeport sites are covered under the Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan.”

The Plymouth and South Devon Freeport is one of only eight freeports planned for England by the Government. It is expected to provide an economic boost to the region, deliver thousands of jobs and encourage millions of pounds of inward investment to Plymouth, South Hams and the wider region.

The freeport’s outline business case is set to be approved by the Government and it is now under the control of a new company called Plymouth and South Devon Freeport Ltd. This is a private company limited by guarantee without share capital, currently led by interim chair Adrian Bratt, executive director at Princess Yachts, and interim chief executive Richard May, currently head of Oceansgate and Marine Investment for the city council.

It is a condition of freeport designation that an independent company is formed which has a chair and board of directors. Its directors are from Plymouth, Devon and South Hams councils, and private companies.

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Sewage spills in UK waters since 2016 have lasted nine million hours

Raw sewage has been pumped into waters around the UK for more than nine million hours since 2016, figures have revealed.

Geraldine Scott www.thetimes.co.uk 

Data from the Environment Agency showed that the total duration of monitored spill events had risen from 100,533 hours in 2016 to 2,667,452 last year.

This week pollution warnings have been put in place on 40 beaches across England and Wales after companies discharged raw sewage into rivers in response to heavy rainfall.

The Labour Party, which analysed the data, said it was a “disgraceful practice”. Jim McMahon, the shadow environment secretary, said: “Families across Britain are trying to enjoy the summertime.

“While water companies are paying billions in dividends, the Tories have allowed them to cut corners and pump filthy raw sewage on to our playing fields and into our waters.

“Labour will put a stop to this disgraceful practice by ensuring there can be enforcement of unlimited fines, holding water company bosses legally and financially accountable for their negligence, and by toughening up regulations that currently allow the system to be abused.”

Using information from the annual returns of each water company, the Liberal Democrats found that the combined bonuses and salaries per water company boss rose by a fifth over the last year.

This is an average rise in executive pay of nearly £200,000, with the average bonus alone rising by £100,000. The Liberal Democrats called the situation a “national scandal”.

The Environment Agency had previously suggested that bosses should face jail for the worst pollution incidents and said this week that the risk of surface water floods caused by sudden heavy rain “reinforces the need for robust action from water companies to reduce discharges from storm overflows”.

David Black, the boss of regulator Ofwat, said: “I was very clear with company remuneration committees in March that performance-related pay for CEOs should be clearly linked to their performance for customers, the environment and society.

“We are carrying out our own analysis and plan to report on whether we feel companies have clearly made this link. Performance-related pay can’t be a one-way street — if companies are not performing that should be reflected in executive pay.”

Water companies have also come under fire for the increasing number of leaks detected in their systems during a period of widespread hosepipe bans.

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pointed to a statement released on its website yesterday, which said the government was “taking action” on sewage discharges, with the present administration being the first to set an expectation on water companies to significantly reduce discharges from storm overflows.

Steve Double, the water minister, said: “We have been clear that water companies’ reliance on overflows is unacceptable and they must significantly reduce how much sewage they discharge as a priority.” He said a plan would be published by September 1.

 

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Exmouth beach, Sidmouth and Beer swimming ban lifted

The swimming and bathing ban at Exmouth [and Sidmouth Town and Jacobs Ladder and Beer] has now been lifted from today, (August, 19) following a pollution issue earlier in the week.

person Adam Manning www.exmouthjournal.co.uk 

Exmouth and Budleigh beach was closed on Tuesday, (August, 16), after pollution in the sea following the heavy rain over that weekend. 

Budleigh re-opened on Wednesday.  A temporary alert was raised for Exmouth Beach in relation to a storm water overflow on Monday.

Between 15 May and 30 September EDDC receives daily ‘pollution forecast’ from the Environment Agency for all the registered bathing waters (Exmouth, Budleigh, Ladram, Sidmouth Jacobs Ladder, Sidmouth Town, Beer, and Seaton). 

These forecasts are based on a range of factors including rain over the various river catchments, wind, known pollution events etc.

This is a forecast of potential pollution risk not a report of a specific incident. 

These forecasts are also sent straight to the electronic signs which are located at all our beaches.  During an alert of this type, it is mandatory requirement that bathing is closed, and signs displayed.   

Because these alerts look at the whole river catchment affecting the bathing water, they are more frequent at Exmouth and Budleigh since the Exe and Otter catchments are much larger than the Sid or the Axe.

A spokesman for South West Water said: “A precautionary notice was raised on Monday at Exmouth Beach and has now been removed as there were no further discharges.”

East Devon District Council has confirmed that the ban on swimming at Exmouth beach has also been lifted.

More information on the Environment Agency website here 

 

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Anger at sewage warning for secluded Devon beach

Visitors to a Devon beach hit by a sewage pollution warning say water companies should invest more to cut storm overflows. There was anger and dismay at Holcombe Beach, between Teignmouth and Dawlish, with one woman saying she had let her young child swim in the sea, but told her not to put her head underwater.

Edward Oldfield www.devonlive.com 

A pebble-filled brook runs across the sand into the sea at the picturesque cove, which is crossed by the stone-built legs of a viaduct carrying the main railway line. The beach, which has a cafe at the bottom of a steep, narrow road, is popular with surfers, local people and holidaymakers. It has an entrance via a set of steps to the sea wall which carries the railway, and walkers can use the path alongside the tracks to reach Teignmouth.

Half-way up the hill to the village is a small brick-built South West Water building where a combined storm overflow can empty a mixture of rainwater and untreated sewage into the stream, if a heavy downpour threatens to overwhelm the system. On Thursday morning, a pollution alert was issued for the beach. It warned that storm sewage had been discharged from a sewer overflow within the previous 48 hours. The secluded beach was one of five along the south Devon coast with an alert still in place on Thursday afternoon, advising people not to go into the sea.

Walkers passing the South West Water hut on Smugglers’ Lane could detect a musty smell in the air where the brook runs alongside, but the water appeared to be clear and there was no sign of sewage. However, swimmers have in the past reported seeing human poo floating in the sea while they have been swimming off the beach. People in the area said it appeared South West Water was not investing enough to reduce the storm overflows. Others warned the pollution warnings threatened the reputation of Devon as a clean and safe holiday destination.

Teignmouth-born Sue Taylor has been running the Salty Dog Kiosk at the beach for six years, and knows when the storm overflows are particularly bad, because the pressure from the torrent of sewage and rainwater blows out a steel inspection cover in the road outside. She said: “We have had two months without any rain. Now they have had an hour of rain yesterday, and they are worrying about water quality. So what happens for the rest of the year?”

Sue Taylor, at the Salty Dog Kiosk at Holcombe Beach

Sue Taylor, at the Salty Dog Kiosk at Holcombe Beach (Image: DevonLive/Reach Plc)

She said it appeared there was a lack of investment, with housing developments in the area being connected to the same Victorian infrastructure that was built for Teignmouth and Dawlish 150 years ago. She added: “Why are they not investing their money? Water rates are very high in the South West, among the highest in the country. They are not investing and putting in place new infrastructure to cope with the sewage.”

Ms Taylor said she was concerned about the impact of regular pollution warnings on Devon’s reputation as an environmentally friendly destination for visitors. She said two people that day had told her they had seen the pollution warning for Holcombe on the Safer Seas & Rivers Service phone app. She said: “People come and swim on this beach all year round. If they don’t come and don’t swim here, I lose trade from the business.”

Ms Taylor added: “The beaches are very important to the economy of Teignmouth. We rely on the beach, because that is what people come to Teignmouth for. People who go to the seaside want to know that it’s safe for them to go in the water. They want to know the water is clean, and the environment is good. So many people are more aware these days, and if somewhere doesn’t tick all the boxes, they will go somewhere that does. Teignmouth has got a blue flag for its clean beach, and we need to keep it that way. If it is down to South West Water, they need to pay to make sure they stay that way. They have a responsibility to the public.”

South West Water station in Smugglers' Lane, Holcombe

South West Water station in Smugglers’ Lane, Holcombe (Image: DevonLive/Reach Plc)

James Atkinson, 55, had walked to Holcombe from his home in Dawlish. He said: “The issue is that the water companies are not investing. I think the issue is privatisation, in my view. They know the problems, but they want to wait for it to go away, for public attention to move on.” He added: “I don’t think private water companies invest enough. They have plans, but I think their plans are always a few years behind what is happening. I don’t think they are prepared to take a punt on the future. They are just happy to get away with what they can get away with now.” He suggested the government should provide more public information to tell people about the importance of using less water.

A woman from Teignmouth, visiting the beach with friends, said: “They are a private company, they are a profit-making business, they could invest the money. It boils down to money at the end of the day.” She added: “I think it is pretty sad to see, it is lack of investment by profit-making companies. They are taking the money, they are not investing the money.” She said more should be done to reduce water use in public buildings, including schools, to cut waste and conserve supplies.

The list of Devon beaches with no-swim warnings on Thursday covered Teignmouth Holcombe, Dawlish Town, Exmouth, Sidmouth Town, and Beer. Earlier warnings issued in recent days have ended for Teignmouth Town, Wembury, Goodrington, Paignton, Budleigh Salterton and Saunton in North Devon.

The Environment Agency which monitors designated bathing water also issued precautionary advice not to bathe in the sea at Dawlish and Exmouth. The alerts follow heavy downpours which have triggered storm overflows to discharge untreated sewage mixed with rainwater into the sea. The outflows are legally allowed to prevent pipes which carry a mixture of rainwater and sewage backing up to flood roads, homes and businesses. Downpours can also wash animal waste and fertiliser into rivers and seas, causing a pollution risk.

Holcombe Beach, near Teignmouth

Holcombe Beach, near Teignmouth (Image: DevonLive/Reach Plc)

South West Water, which provides water and sewerage services in Devon, said the Environment Agency’s Pollution Risk Forecast system triggered precautionary alerts when the weather posed a potential risk to water quality. Alerts were also raised in relation to stormwater overflows which may temporarily impact bathing water quality, but they were also precautionary.

A South West Water spokesperson said: “In recent days we have seen heavy localised rainfall which followed the prolonged period of hot and dry weather. As a result, the rain hasn’t been able to permeate into the ground and a significant volume has run into our network, which can cause our storm overflows to trigger. We continue to invest in our network to reduce the use of storm overflows as part of our WaterFit plan.”

The company says its plan will “dramatically reduce our use of storm overflows, maintain our region’s excellent bathing water quality standards all year round and reduce and then remove our impact on river water quality by 2030.” It says storm overflows act as a legal safety valve to prevent sewers becoming overloaded and flooding homes, roads and businesses. South West Water achieved 100 per cent coastal bathing water quality for the first time across 860 miles of coastline earlier this year.

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More on Val Ranger: Inspiring Devon woman dies after cancer battle

East Devon District Council (EDDC) announced the passing of Councillor Valerie Ranger, better known as Val, on Wednesday, August 10. Val lost her 18 month-long battle with stomach cancer on Tuesday, August 2.

Mary Stenson www.devonlive.com

Friends of Val, Liz Dowen and Lesley Woolley, who set up a GoFundMe to help pay for Val’s stomach cancer treatment, paid tribute to the ‘inspiring’ local woman. The announcement of her passing said: “It is with a sad and heavy heart that we have to announce that Val passed away on Tuesday 2nd August 2022. Val fought this awful disease with such courage and determination. She was an inspiration to us all.

“With a constant smile on her face to the end and a determination to never give up, we have much to learn from her life, values and spirit. A truly inspiring and loving person who will be so missed, she made our community a better place to live. We will never forget her. Thank you to all of you who supported this appeal and gave Val precious time and hope.”

Val has been an active member in her local community for thirty years, starting out by doing voluntary work in 1992 in Sidbury in where she lived. She helped Second World War vets who had been denied disability benefits after being injured during the war.

Following on from her voluntary work, Val also taught at Exeter College from 1993 until 2020 when she had to leave due to her illness. She mainly worked with Access to Higher Education students, who are mature students seeking career changes and university access.

Val was known to share her vast range of skills as a teacher as she passed on her knowledge of shorthand to local Devon newspaper reporters.

Alex Richards, senior content editor at DevonLive, added: “It is with deep sadness we’re reporting on the passing of Val. There’s a generation of Devon journalists that owe her a great deal following her shorthand tutelage, just one of many strings she had to her bow. She was warm and witty, and we all found her a delight to work with. Our thoughts are with her friends and family at this difficult time.”

In 2013, Val began pursuing EDDC matters and was shocked by a ‘biased system’. The following year, she joined the parish council and then ran as an independent councillor for EDDC in 2015, proving to be a popular candidate after winning a clear majority. She was re-elected in 2019, becoming Vice-Chairman, a post which she remained in until her recent passing.

Putting locals first was one of Val’s core values as the GoFundMe page set up on her behalf explains: “She became part of the Democratic Alliance which is a collaboration between independent councillors, Liberal democrats and Green candidates in a bid to put politics aside and work on behalf of residents regardless of their political alliance.

“Along the way she was involved in ensuring Harpford Hall was retained as a community asset, and has campaigned for the retention of the red bridge over the River Otter to ensure residents have a safe walking route to and from Newton Poppleford and Tipton, as well as safety improvement measures on Four Elms Hill which should finally complete in July.”

In November 2020, Val received a stomach cancer diagnosis. In an October 2021 update on the GoFundMe page set up on her behalf, she described the first year with the illness as a “rollercoaster” but offered her thanks to “all those who have contributed to my fund, both financially but also with words of support and prayers.

“The response has been overwhelming and has made a massive difference to my physical and emotional well-being.”

After difficulty accessing treatment during multiple lockdowns, Val hoped that being open about her journey with cancer would encourage others to “take heart and feel able to doggedly pursue their doctors if they feel that something isn’t right and seek second and subsequent opinions if you are fobbed off or indeed written off.”

She expressed gratitude for the kindness of her friends for setting up the GoFundMe page and described Force Exeter and Honiton team hospice nurses as “brilliant”.

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Truss’s jibe at British workers shows that she fails to understand the problem 

At its core is the so-called “productivity puzzle”, and Liz Truss is winning over a gullible Conservative party with the notion that cutting taxes is the way to unlock it. 

The gullibility of Tories to accept arguments that seem to be too good to be true has local form. Just think of the way they accepted our Local Enterprise Partnership’s (LEP) claim to be able to double the local economy in 20 years on the basis of no evidence.

Like our LEP, Liz Truss’s claim doesn’t stand scrutiny either, read on. – Owl

Larry Elliott www.theguardian.com 

It will doubtless come as a surprise to British workers toiling in distribution warehouses, call centres or the NHS that Liz Truss thinks they could do with showing “more graft”.

Judging by comments made when she was chief secretary to the Treasury, the frontrunner to be prime minister thinks the UK’s economic problems are down to a working culture quite different from that in communist China.

Truss is right in one respect. The UK does lag behind many other western countries in the productivity league table. Across the G7 group of major industrial countries, the average worker produces 13% more an hour than the average British worker and the gap is getting bigger.

Official data also appears to show a divide between London and the rest of the country, with workers in the capital apparently 80% more productive than the national average. Truss suggests this is a mindset issue.

The idea, though, that the UK’s deep-rooted economic problems are caused by shirking or a lack of effort does not stand up to serious scrutiny. Britain has one of the most deregulated labour markets in the developed world and the average British worker puts in more hours a week than the European average.

Monitoring and surveillance in many workplaces are intense, with disciplinary measures for those that fail to meet quotas. This is a country where management has the whip hand and, for the most part, workers are not protected by unions. To the extent Truss’s analysis was ever true, it harks back to a labour market that has long since disappeared – now replaced by one in which an army of gig economy and self-employed workers toil away to make a living.

The real reason for Britain’s poor productivity lies elsewhere. UK business investment as a share of national output, or gross domestic product, is the lowest in the G7. It is a similar story with research and development, to which the UK devotes 1.7% of GDP annually, compared with an average of 3.1% for members of the developed country club, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Britain’s economic model is based on an abundance of cheap labour and under-investment in up to date capital equipment and product innovation. Skills levels are higher in a country such as Germany because the Germans invest more in training.

The difference between Britain and better performing countries is not that they work harder than we do, but that they work smarter than we do. Foreign-owned companies in the UK tend to have higher productivity, so if “mindset” is the issue then it is the mindset of management that counts.

Nor is it really the case that productivity is higher in London because workers in the capital have a “can do” spirit lacking elsewhere. As a paper from researchers at Sheffield Hallam University found, once adjusted for factors including the size of the working age population, the concentration of high productivity jobs in finance and the number of hours worked, the gap virtually disappears.

Truss’s team say the remarks made some years ago have been taken out of context but they seem pretty clear. If Boris Johnson’s probable successor thinks more graft is needed, she is completely misdiagnosing the problem.

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Water company bosses got 20% pay rise amid sewage ‘scandal’, say Lib Dems

Lib Dem MP for Tiverton and Honiton, Richard Foord, said beaches in his Devon constituency had been among those marked unsafe due to sewage.

“Local people and holidaymakers shouldn’t be forced to swim amidst human waste.

“Devon’s beaches are amongst the best in the world but the Government is turning a blind eye while private companies ruin them,” Mr Foord said.

See also: The tories just voted against an amendment to stop water companies dumping raw sewage into rivers Owl

www.denbighshirefreepress.co.uk 

The average water company boss’s total pay rose by 20% over the last year as a “national scandal” of leaks and sewage being pumped into the sea continues, research has suggested.

Analysis by the Liberal Democrats found the 22 water company executives across Great Britain were paid £24.8 million, including £14.7 million in bonuses, benefits and incentives in 2021/2022.

Pollution warnings were put in place on 40 beaches across England and Wales this week, mostly on the south coast, after flash flooding overwhelmed sewage systems.

Thames Water, which supplies 15 million people, is putting a hosepipe ban in place on August 24, as water levels in its reservoirs are “much lower than usual”.

Lib Dem environment spokesperson Tim Farron said: “This is a national scandal. These disgusting polluting habits have made beaches unsafe in the middle of the summer holidays and harmed precious British wildlife.

“Hosepipe bans could have been avoided this summer if these water company CEOs bothered to invest in their rusting pipes rather than stuffing profits in their pockets.

“They are putting profit over the environment. Frankly, the whole thing stinks.”

He added: “This Government is guilty by association for letting water companies get away with this.”

Using information from the annual returns of each water company, the Lib Dems found the combined bonuses and salaries per water company boss rose by a fifth – or 21% – from 2020/2021 to 2021/2022.

This is an average rise in executive pay of nearly £200,000, with the average bonus alone rising by £100,000.

Lib Dem MP for Tiverton and Honiton, Richard Foord, said beaches in his Devon constituency had been among those marked unsafe due to sewage.

“Local people and holidaymakers shouldn’t be forced to swim amidst human waste.

“Devon’s beaches are amongst the best in the world but the Government is turning a blind eye while private companies ruin them,” Mr Foord said.

In a report published in July, the Environment Agency said water company bosses should face jail for the worst pollution incidents, describing the sector’s performance in 2021 as the “worst we have seen for years”.

The agency this week said that the risk of surface water floods caused by sudden heavy rain “reinforces the need for robust action from water companies to reduce discharges from storm overflows”.

David Black, the boss at water regulator Ofwat, said: “I was very clear with company remuneration committees in March that performance-related pay for CEOs should be clearly linked to their performance for customers, the environment and society.

“We are carrying out our own analysis and plan to report on whether we feel companies have clearly made this link.

“Performance-related pay can’t be a one-way street – if companies are not performing that should be reflected in executive pay.”

Water Company Executive Remuneration Total – 2020 & 2021

CompanyBase payBonuses, benefits and incentivesPensionTotal exec remuneration per company
South West Water£1,129,000£2,804,000£259,000£4,192,000

Companies house data on operating profits of water companies 2020/2021

Water companyAreaName of company – Companies HouseRevenue (£m)Operating profit (£m)
Anglian WaterEastAnglian Water Services Limited1,351.8391.6
Northumbrian WaterNorth EastNorthumbrian Water Limited758.4195.0
Severn Trent WaterWest and East Mids, ChesterSevern Trent Water Limited1,699.5457.9
Southern WaterSouth EastSouthern Water Services Ltd819.8138.8
South West WaterSouth West South West Water Limited543.8198.3
Thames WaterGreater London, Thames ValleyThames Water Utilities Limited2,106.7488.8
United UtilitiesNorth WestUnited Utilities Plc1,808.0602.1
Wessex WaterSouth WestWessex Water Services Ltd516.9160.4
Yorkshire WaterYorkshire and HumberYorkshire Water Services Ltd1,101.1241.4
  Total10,706.02,874.3