Daisy Cooper MP: Sewage dumping in our rivers needs to stop

Under the Conservatives, this environmental catastrophe was left to fester. Now the Labour government has brought forward a Water Bill with the aim of tackling the issue - but in truth it's only a job half done. 

St Albans MP Daisy Cooper (Image: Newsquest) The dumping of raw sewage in our waterways is bad enough, but the scandal is made so much worse by the fact that water company bosses have been pocketing millions of pounds in bonuses whilst doing it. 

To tackle this, the government’s new Water Bill has a half-baked proposal: water bosses bonuses will be determined according to a series of tests, to be established by the water regulator Ofwat. But here’s the rub: the regulator is a busted flush. 

Just this week, a new Freedom of Information request by my Liberal Democrat colleagues reveals that three years after Ofwat started its investigation into sewage dumping, it hasn’t issued a single fine - not one.

So if the regulator can’t be trusted to issue fines for sewage dumping, it surely can’t be trusted to ban water bosses bonuses either.

And this matters because these bonuses are big. Analysis of Company House records - again by we Liberal Democrats - has found that water company executives have made £35 million in bonuses since 2021. 

In other sectors, such handsome payments are given to reward success, but in the water industry, they are literally rewarding failure.

Thames Water is no exception. I met the company recently at their Markyate water treatment plant and challenged them to list their priority areas for improving the sewer system.

But can you believe it? Our area, which includes the ecological gem which is the River Ver, didn’t even feature.

A wishy-washy bonus setting process just isn’t going to cut it. 

That’s why we Liberal Democrats are trying to strengthen the law to make it clear cut: no more bonuses until the sewage dumping stops.