The UK’s environment watchdog has launched a record number of criminal investigations into water companies under a crackdown on Britain’s sewage crisis.
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.
This newspaper’s five-point manifesto has been calling on the Government to give the Environment Agency beefed-up powers and resources to enforce the law.
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.
Reed is seeking to tackle the ongoing pollution crisis in the country’s waterways following rising public anger over the amount of sewage being pumped into our rivers, lakes and seas.
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.
The Government said the 150 per cent rise is a reflection of the increase in monthly criminal probes that have been launched. Between July last year and March this year, there have been an average of nine criminal investigations launched each month, as opposed to 3.6 a month between April 2020 and June 2024.
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.
Despite the doubts, Reed insisted he would punish those found to be breaking the law when it comes to the environment, as he championed this paper’s campaign.
“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.
“Water companies have got away without proper punishment for too long, as they have pumped sewage into our waterways. This ends now.
“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.
“Marking a significant win for The i Paper, this action will focus water bosses’ minds on cleaning up our rivers, lakes and seas as part of the Government’s Plan for Change.”
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 last Tory Government began the process of beefing up the number of inspections and hiring more staff, and this was continued by Labour after the general election.
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.
A water company faces a criminal investigation if it is found to have broken the rules of its environmental permit, such as releasing excessive pollution into a river or failing to carry out monitoring of water quality. Permits allow water firms to discharge sewage in some circumstances, such as during periods of exceptional rainfall.
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.
Court cases against Yorkshire Water, Thames Water, Southern, South West and one against Welsh Water brought under the last administration will be heard in the next few months for breaches of permit conditions and illegal sewage dumping. Breaches of environmental laws are dealt with in Scotland by a separate regulator.
Philip Duffy, chief executive of the Environment Agency, said the crackdown was just the beginning.
“Our message to the industry is clear: we expect full compliance throughout the water system, and we will not hesitate to take robust enforcement action where we identify serious breaches,” he said.
But campaign groups have cast significant doubt on the claims.
James Wallace, chief executive of River Action Now, said while it was “good to see” the Government taking water pollution seriously, he added: “Jail time for water bosses remains highly unlikely.
“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.
“Criminal prosecutions under the current legal system take five years or more. What will companies like Thames Water be doing in the meantime? Business as usual: yet more pollution for profit.”
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.”
Jamie Cook, chief executive of the Angling Trust, said: “While we welcome this long-overdue focus on inspecting Britain’s failing water industry, it’s meaningful results that our ailing rivers desperately need.
“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.
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