Lib Dems demand ban on ‘sewage bonuses’ to end pollution in UK rivers

Sir Ed Davey slammed the government for “failing to hold water companies to account” as bosses “rewarded” £15 billion “for destroying our precious natural environment”
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The Liberal Democrats are demanding a ban on “sewage bonuses” for water bosses as it slammed the government for “failing to hold water companies to account”.

Party leader Sir Ed Davey said water bosses were paid £15 billion in bonuses last year and were “rewarded for destroying our precious natural environment”.

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Last year, sewage was pumped into England’s waterways for a total of 1.75 million hours, 825 times a day on average, according to the Environment Agency.

Speaking during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday (10 May), Dave went on to say three executives have recently turned down their bonuses, but stressed “they should never have been entitled to them in the first place.”

Chief executives of Yorkshire Water and Thames Water, and the owner of South West Water, all declined to accept bonuses this year after water firms were criticised for raking in profits while sewage is regularly released into UK waterways in large quantities.

Lib Dems demand ban on ‘sewage bonuses’ to end pollution in UK rivers. (Photo: Getty Images) Lib Dems demand ban on ‘sewage bonuses’ to end pollution in UK rivers. (Photo: Getty Images)
Lib Dems demand ban on ‘sewage bonuses’ to end pollution in UK rivers. (Photo: Getty Images)

Nicola Shaw, of Yorkshire Water, said she understood the “strength of feeling” on river pollution and refused what would have been her first bonus since joining the company in May 2022. Annual reports show she could have received between £600,000 and £800,000 if the company met its performance targets.

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Davey called the earnings “sewage bonuses” and called on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to end such payments, adding that former Tory voters turned to his party in the local elections over the "government failure" to stop sewage going into rivers.

In response, Sunak accused the Lib Dems of “saying one thing nationally and another locally”.

In the run up to the local elections, the Lib Dems flooded council areas with leaflets and political adverts drawing attention to the Conservatives’ track record on its action to tackle sewage spills.

A party source told i news: “There is real anger across the country at how Conservative MPs have voted in Parliament on sewage laws. It was raised constantly on the doorstep in the Blue Wall.

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“In some areas, sewage was raised as much as local NHS services. For some Conservative voters, sewage was the final straw.”

Anger was stoked on social media during the lead-up to the local elections with users pointing to the fact 265 Conservative MPs voted "to allow" water companies to carry on dumping sewage, blocking a Labour amendment to the Environment Bill which would have placed a legal duty on firms to phase out the practice.

The Tories argued the move was unworkable and would result in raw sewage entering people’s homes as well as higher household charges.

Plans to fine water companies for dumping sewage were recently announced by Environment Secretary Therese Coffey as part of a raft of measures to "make polluters pay".

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