I have today written to the Chief Executive of Ofwat, the water services regulator in the UK, to express my support for new plans to link the dividends of water company shareholders to their environmental performance.
I know that everybody in Harlow and the villages are clear that they expect our water companies to clean up their act, to tackle sewage pollution and improve their service to provide clean and plentiful water. This includes making sure supplies are more resilient, cracking down on leakage and improving supply infrastructure.
I welcome the strides this Government has taken to end water and sewage pollution. That’s why I have voted in favour of:
- Greater penalties for water companies who do not meet the environmental standards required, such as the record breaking fine handed to Southern Water last year.
- £7.1 billion investment by water companies to improve water quality, including £3.1 billion dedicated to improving storm overflow use.
- Establishing the Office for Environmental Protection as an environmental watchdog.
- New powers to regulate water companies, the Environment Agency and the Government which go beyond those powers within the rejected proposal of changes to storm overflows.
- A legal obligation on water companies to publish data on storm overflow operations in near real time (within 1 hour) of the commencement of an overflow, its location and when it will end.
In March 2022, the Government published the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan consultation, which I encouraged all Harlow residents to respond to. This sets out plans to revolutionise how water companies tackle the number of discharges of untreated sewage. Ofwat, the water services regulator, has welcomed the commitment of water companies to address storm overflows and improve water quality. You can read more about Ofwat here.
Furthermore, in November 2022, fines for dumping in our waterways reached an all time high. Since 2015, over £141 million has been raised through penalties against reckless water companies. New Government rules mean water companies are now required to invest £56 billion to improve and upgrade our water infrastructure.
I am pleased to support a Government with a decisive plan to tackle pollution in our waterways, fine reckless water companies and invest into schemes which serve to benefit and protect our natural environment; however, I am clear that more must be done to reduce the pollution in our waterways and linking dividends to their performance will be an important tool to ensure water companies are held to account and drive better outcomes for my constituents.
