Gosport MP, Dame Caroline Dinenage, has welcomed the news that tougher sanctions will be introduced to deter water companies from polluting the environment, and encourage them to invest in improving infrastructure capacity.
The Environment Secretary, Ranil Jayawardena MP, announced a move to bring forward proposals to raise the civil penalty for water companies who pollute the environment from the current level of £250,000 to £250 million.
This is part of an effort to encourage water companies to invest in sewage processing infrastructure to increase capacity, and to secure water supply for the future.
This move will empower the Environment Agency to give significantly greater fines for pollution of the waterways. This is of particular concern to the Gosport constituency, given the number of discharges in the constituency in recent months.
The plans will be subject to consultation before being implemented.
Speaking in support of the news, Caroline Dinenage said:
“I am glad that the government is acting on this issue. Sewage discharges have a particularly detrimental effect to the Gosport constituency, given the large amount of shoreline in the constituency.
“I personally enjoy swimming in the sea, and I know many others in the constituency do too, so its relieving to hear that the government is listening and looking to tackle this issue. This will help to encourage long term investment to overcome the problem for good.
“Constituents are understandably angry about sewage discharges. I hear stories in my inbox about people who have become unwell after sea swimming. I am relieved that affirmative action is being taken by central government, and I will continue to do all that I can to act on sewage discharges.”
Environment Secretary Ranil Jayawardena said:
“I have been clear that if water companies don’t do what is expected, there will be consequences. Bigger financial penalties will act as a greater deterrent and push water companies to do more, and faster, when it comes to investing in infrastructure and improving the quality of our water.
“This 1,000-fold increase sends a clear signal that we want clean rivers and coastlines, and that the duty falls to the water companies to deliver – the polluter must pay.”
Environment Agency Chief Executive Sir James Bevan said:
“Since 2015 the Environment Agency’s criminal prosecutions against water companies have secured fines of over £138 million – with a record £90 million fine handed out to Southern Water for corporate environmental crime.
“However, criminal prosecutions can be lengthy and costly, so we welcome today’s proposals which will make it easier for us to hold water companies to account for environmental crimes.
“We will now work closely with government to put this plan into action.”
