The Tory government’s new plan to tackle Britain’s sewage spill crisis with targets for water companies to make improvements by 2035 has been branded a “cruel joke” and a “licence to pollute”.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) announced on Friday that water companies will be required to invest £56bn in capital investment over the next 25 years in a bid to tackle pollution.
The firms will also have to “improve” how they manage all the sewage overflows discharging next to bathing water by 2035, and improve 75 per cent of the overflows at top nature sites.
The government claimed to be introducing the “strictest targets ever”, but Labour branded the plan “weak” and said it would not stop water companys treating Britain’s beaches and rivers like “an open sewer”.
The Liberal Democrats also ridiculed Defra’s claim, saying the new deadlines were over a decade away and did nothing to address water company bonuses and profits.
The opposition party also estimated that by 2030 there will still be 325,000 sewage dumps a year in Britain’s waterways under the “flimsy” new plan, only a slight reduction on current levels.
“This government plan is a licence to pump sewage onto our beaches and in our treasured rivers and lakes,” said Tim Farron, the Lib Dems’ environment spokesperson.
The senior MP added: “By the time these flimsy targets come into effect, our beaches would have been pumped full of disgusting sewage, more otters will be poisoned and our children will still be swimming in dangerous water.”
The plan also means that taxpayers’ will largely pay for the new infrastructure improvements, say the Lib Dems – despite soaring bonuses for water company bosses in recent years.
The plan published by Defra states that water bill “impacts” from the extra investment will start from 2025. “The modelled bill increases will start in 2025 and would average £12 between 2025 and 2030.”
Farron – who has called for a ban on water company bonuses – said it was “a cruel joke”. He added: “The government is going to hike water bills to pay for cleaning up the mess made by water companies. Whilst they roll in the cash, we swim in sewage – the whole thing stinks.”
Previous analysis by the party found that the average water company executive bonus rose by a fifth (18 per cent) last year. The average annual bonus now stands at £670,000.
Labour and estimated that Britain still faces another 4.8 million sewage spill events between now and 2035, based on last year’s figures.
Jim McMahon, shadow environment secretary, said “this document is neither a plan, nor does it eliminate sewage dumping into our natural environment”.
The Labour frontbencher added: “Britain deserves better than a zombie Tory government that is happy for our country to be treated as an open sewer.”
The government plan published on Friday imposed a new target of improving all sewage discharges – regardless of location – by 2050. Defra said it was part of plan to get £56bn worth of capital investment in better infrastructure and water quality over the next 25 years.
Environment secretary George Eustice claimed it was “the first government to take action to end the environmental damage caused by sewage spills”.
The Tory minister added: “Water companies will need to invest to stop unacceptable sewage spills so our rivers and coast lines can have greater protection than ever before.”
However, the Defra plan states that the number of sewage discharges will fall by only 44,000 by 2030, which means there will still be 325,000 discharges in 2030.
