A tireless advocate for cleaner waters, Dr Neil Hudson, MP for Penrith and The Border, welcomed a potential 1,000-fold increase in civil fines for water companies that illegally breach permit conditions.
At the Conservative Party Conference, newly appointed Environment Secretary, Ranil Jayawardena, announced further action to clean up our waters and tackle storm overflows that discharge an unacceptable and immoral amount of sewage into our rivers and lakes.
In his speech, he outlined a formal consultation process, on lifting the £250,000 cap for Environment Agency fines of water companies breaching environmental regulations to £250 million, holding water companies to account for illegal sewage discharges.
This builds on the Conservative record of being the first government to require water companies to take action to address these discharges and follows the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction plan, the most significant investment and delivery programme ever undertaken by water companies to protect people and the environment. The Environment Secretary also made clear that the environment, food production and economic growth go hand-in hand.
The announcement follows tireless campaigning from Dr Neil Hudson MP who has made cleaning up the county’s waters one of his top priorities for Penrith and The Border.
As such, the Cumbrian MP has repeatedly stood up on this issue in Parliament, probed the problem in his role on the EFRA Select Committee and pressed Ministers to take action on the issue. This has included Dr Hudson quizzing incoming Chairs of the Environment Agency and Ofwat – both bodies involved in regulating water companies and our waterways.
Closer to home he has also met with Eden Rivers and the Environment Agency trust to discuss work being done on the ground in rural Cumbria.
Dr Neil Hudson, MP for Penrith and The Border, said:
“The scourge of sewage in our waterways and seas has been an intolerable blight on our country for too long. But now, with strict targets and substantial fines awaiting would-be polluters I’m delighted to see the new Secretary of State’s resolute action after only a matter of days in the job. Having repeatedly called for action on this issue, I welcome that Government has listened to me and my colleagues and that tough new measures are planned which will tackle these absolutely unacceptable and illegal sewage discharges.
“When repeatedly quizzing in parliament the incoming Environment Agency and OfWat bosses, as part of my role on the Commons EFRA Select Committee , I asked them both if they had the teeth to crack down on sewage discharges – now with the ability to enact fines of up to £250 million, their answers must surely be yes!
“For all of us here in beautiful Cumbria, I’m so aware of just how important our precious yet fragile natural landscapes are, and these measures will make sure our waterways are better protected for generations to come.”
Ranil Jayawardena, Environment Secretary, added:
“On my first day in office, I met water company bosses to give them their report card. I’ll be polite: could do better.
“I asked them to write to me with their plans to accelerate investment in infrastructure. They did and now they must deliver. Privatisation has put in £170billion of investment into our water infrastructure already, and the private sector will now put in another £56billion more.
“And, if they don’t deliver, I can confirm to you today that we will take forward plans to lift the Environment Agency’s maximum civil fine for each individual breach of the rules from up to just £250,000, to up to £250 million.”
