Eighty-one criminal probes into the misfiring water industry have been triggered since Labour came to power, in a move that Environment Secretary Steve Reed hailed as a “significant win” for The i Paper’s Save Britain’s Rivers campaign.
The uplift in investigations could result in company bosses facing charges with sentences of up to five years in prison if found guilty of wrongdoing, and the companies being fined hundreds of millions of pounds.
Seven new cases brought against water companies will be going to the courts in the coming months, following investigations by the regulator. The Government claims the number of investigations per month has risen by 150 per cent – a new record.
But some campaign groups remain sceptical over the Government’s action, warning that jail time for individuals is “highly unlikely”, and that prosecutions can take years to come about. They have also raised concerns about potential spending cuts in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s review next month.
“The i Paper’s Save Britain’s Rivers campaign has rightly called for regulators to be given more teeth to crack down on polluting water companies,” Reed said.
“In the election, we promised to bring criminal charges against lawbreakers. Today, we deliver on that promise with the biggest criminal crackdown on water companies in history.
According to the Government, the number of inspections by the Environment Agency has increased by 400 per cent since July, and has uncovered widespread lawbreaking.
The beleaguered Thames Water is facing the most criminal investigations, with 31 active probes into the firm as of March this year. Anglian Water is next with 22 investigations.
And in a further win for The i Paper’s campaign, which called for better resources for regulators to enforce the law, the Government has hired an additional 380 staff at the Environment Agency to carry out inspections.
Philip Duffy, chief executive of the Environment Agency, said the crackdown was just the beginning.
But campaign groups have cast significant doubt on the claims.
“The law only applies to cover-ups, and there’s no need to hide what’s already happening in plain sight, week in, week out.
Wallace also raised concerns over potential cuts to the EA in the upcoming Spending Review, asking: “How will it sustain the level of enforcement needed to hold polluters to account — from water companies to factory farms? Tough talk needs backing with real resources.”
“Court cases must progress with haste, and the money raised from fines should go back into supporting the environment through the River Restoration Fund.”
A Water UK spokesperson, responding on behalf of the industry, said: “It is right that water companies are investigated and held to account when things go wrong. Almost 99 per cent of sewage and water treatment works meet their permits, and we are focused on getting to 100 per cent.”
Why the environment watchdog has pursued few prosecutions against water firms – until now
The Environment Agency has always had the power to criminally investigate water companies for wrongdoing, but concerns have been raised that prosecutions are too few and far between, given the scale of pollution.
But the Government introduced beefed-up powers last month as it felt that there were shortcomings in the existing laws, and that there was no straightforward route to prosecute directors or executives.
These powers were introduced as just three water executives have been prosecuted since privatisation in 1989, with no one facing prison sentences despite widespread illegal dumping of sewage over the years.
Water companies are also being forced to bear the cost of any investigation into illegal dumping, a move designed to give regulators more resources and a “pool of money” for investigations and prosecutions.
Criminal cases are lengthy and expensive, meaning the watchdog has often relied on civil penalties, which do not come with jail time.
In July last year, the EA said it had concluded 63 prosecutions against water companies for pollution since 2015, an average of seven cases per year.
These cases secured £150m worth of fines, an average of £13.6m per water company in England.
This included a record £90m fine for Southern Water after the company pleaded guilty to 6,971 unpermitted sewage discharges.
Campaigners have argued that this amount is tiny compared to the large dividends water companies have paid to investors during this timeframe. It has been reported that water companies in England and Wales have paid out £2.5bn in dividends in the space of just two years between 2021 and 2023.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( At last, water firms facing criminal probes over sewage )
Also on site :