Penalties of up to £250 million for pollution offences have been confirmed to be “still on the table” by environment secretary Therese Coffey as she demanded action from water and sewage companies to improve water infrastructure.
The head of the department for environment, food and rural affairs (Defra) confirmed the maximum £250 million fine remains an option, following reports that the maximum fines would be scrapped or lowered.
However, Coffey has also said a consultation will be launched in the spring “to find an upper limit that is a real and serious deterrent”.
Coffey called for companies to provide a clear assessment and action plan for every combined sewer overflow (CSO) in England as part of work to reduce the risk of harm to waterways.
“We need to be clear that this is not a new problem. Storm overflows have existed for over a century,” she said. “The law has always allowed for discharges, subject to regulation. That is how our Victorian sewers are built – wastewater and rain are carried in the same pipe. When it reaches a certain height, it pours into another pipe and into rivers.”
She acknowledged infrastructure programmes are underway as the industry works to minimise the impact of CSOs, however, Coffey added “there is still significant work to do”.
From 2017 companies began rolling out event duration monitors (EDM) to understand when and how often CSOs discharged. By the end of this year companies are required to have fitted an EDM to all CSO points.
Data compiled by research group Reboot showed the average number of spill events per overflow in 2021 was 29.4.
The research shows Southern Water had the lowest average number of spills from its CSOs in 2021 at an annual average of 20.2 spills. United Utilities, which predominantly has combined sewers owing to the age of infrastructure in its urban areas, had the most spills at 41.8 lasting an average of 6.6 hours.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak last week denied reports that plans for the hefty penalties were being scrapped, as had been suggested in The Times.
Under former-prime minister Liz Truss, Ranil Jayawardena as environment secretary first proposed levelling the £250 million penalties at water companies amid mounting public and political pressures to take action to improve river water quality.
More than £102 million worth of fines were issued in 2021. Last year government decided the money from these will be re-invested into schemes that benefit the environment rather than returned to the Treasury.