Andrew Griffith, Arundel and South Downs MP, has broadly welcomed news from the Government that water firms will be held accountable for their performance for customers and the environment.
The South Downs MP has actively held local water bosses to account over their responsibilities to clean up rivers and seas, tackle sewage dumping and improve the water infrastructure.
The previous Government had already introduced stringent targets to ensure monitoring of all storm overflows through targets set in The Environment Act 2021. This target was met by December 2023 when 100% of overflows are now monitored as outlined in the Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction Plan. This level of transparency in measuring when and for how long a storm overflows are happening helps regulators better hold the water companies to account for illegals sewage spills and drive investment to where infrastructure improvements must be made.
Water companies have already been subject to unlimited financial penalties for breaching permits and causing pollution incidents. Shareholder dividends have also been restricted to environmental performance and bonuses have been restricted in tough measures which were announced in February to ensure that no water company can profit from illegal behaviour.
This week, the new Environment Secretary Steve Reed has announced a series of further steps further cut the illegal sewage dumping and ringfencing inward private-sector investment to upgrade infrastructure. Consumers will also have the opportunity to be part of new customer panels to directly hold water executives to account.
Commenting on the announcements, Andrew Griffith MP said:
“Representing large parts of the rivers rother, Arun and Adur the cleanliness of our water is one of my top priorities.
It is right that the environment and water infrastructure is being prioritised, building on the work of the last Government to address the issues caused by storm overfows, illegal sewage dumping and investment in infrastructure.
These are all issues which I myself have taken an active role on behalf of my constituents, meeting regularly with Southern Water bosses to put pressure on them for faster action, and I will be continuing to monitor their actions.”
