Only we have made water firms accountable

What a wonderful day last Saturday was. A momentous day that marks the ceremonial beginning of a new era for Britain. I attended the special service in Sherborne Abbey on Friday afternoon. I then went to Westminster to watch the magnificent procession from Whitehall. Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation in 1953 marked a turning point away from that era towards a modern and colourful new age and King Charles’ Coronation I think will be the same. I hope you enjoyed this momentous occasion however you celebrated it. One of the major environmental issues we have across the UK is water pollution. The reason why the problem has become so pronounced is that we were the first Government to

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properly expose the issue with mandatory monitoring.

The Labour Government introduced self-regulation of water companies in the late 2000s, giving water companies effective free rein. Only around 10% of outflows were ever monitored, and the situation became so bad along the River Thames the Labour Government at the time were even taken to court by the EU in 2009 because of it! We have increased monitoring drastically and expect to be at 100% by the end of the year. While this has greatly increased the profile of this issue, it means we can now see the scale of the problem and deal with it. This came with the launch of the Environment Act 2021 which placed legal duties on water companies to monitor all outflows by end of 2023, monitor water quality near their sites, invest in their infrastructure to reduce discharges, report real time information on discharge information and above all, commit under law to reduce their spills, with increased fines on those companies who do not comply. Since then, these moves have been strengthened time and time again. Late last year, the Government announced it would increase the civil liability penalties for water companies, from £250,000 to £250 million. We have also cracked down on polluting companies giving away massive dividends to their shareholders. After my work lobbying my colleagues in

Westminster to push for this to happen, OFWAT announced new powers to lock in dividends with environmental performance –another thing that the LibDems say they would do, but we have already done it. The reality is that if the LibDems are taking this issue seriously, why did they fail to vote for Government motions to cut sewage discharges? And why, if the Labour Party are so committed to this, did they fail so badly in their 13 years of Government, they were taken to court by the EU because of it? While the opposition indulge in party politics, we are delivering on restoring our rivers and seas and I shall continue working hard as your MP to add even more to the improvements we have achieved to date.

Forcing the water companies to come clean on sewage

It’s finally getting warmer and with it comes the temptation to get back into the sea. Our family loves beach days and I can’t wait for the first swim of 2023.

Our rivers and beaches aren’t just a tourist draw, they are part of our natural environment and one of the reasons West Dorset is so wonderful.

But all is not so wonderful with our water right now. The recent release of the 2022 sewage data made for grim reading: The equivalent of 65 days’ worth of non-stop untreated sewage was released into Lyme Bay. There were weeks where swimming was not only not recommended, it was

By EDWARD MORELLO West Dorset LibDems

downright dangerous.

It’s easy to think that this is a problem that only affects the coastal parts of our community, but that isn’t the case. One of the worst affected places in West Dorset was the decidedlyinland Sydling St Nicholas where over 1,000 hours of sewage was released into Sydling Water. Even the River Yeo in Sherborne was not spared.

Are we even getting the full story? New research by the LibDems has found almost 2,300 of the sewage monitors are faulty. That is more than one in six nationally. Meaning we don’t actually know the full extent to which the water companies have been poisoning our rivers and beaches. Conservative MPs –including West Dorset’s –voted against an attempt to ban the release of sewage. The paltry new rules introduced by the Government are lip service only. The “unlimited fines” are only for discharge not resulting from heavy rainfall. Yet rainfall is the reason for the overwhelming majority of discharges that keeps happening.Water companies have no reason to fear these new rules. The Conservatives will tell you that fixing the problem is expensive. Of course it is. But water companies make £2.2 billion in annual profits. Is it right that they are allowed to pay executive bonuses rather than fix the problem?

The LibDems will act to protect West Dorset. We will introduce a Sewage Tax on water companies profits and a ban on executive bonuses until they stop polluting. We’ll make the sea and our crucial waterways safe again for families to enjoy, and for the environment to prosper. My family and I can look forward to getting back in the water very soon. Here’s to sunny days and clean water!