The Liberal Democrats’ Election Manifesto is calling for water companies to be transformed into public benefit companies, bonuses for water chiefs to be banned until discharges and leaks end and Ofwat to be replaced with a tough new regulator with new powers to prevent sewage dumps.
The Liberal Democrats’ Election Manifesto is calling for water companies to be transformed into public benefit companies, bonuses for water chiefs to be banned until discharges and leaks end and Ofwat to be replaced with a tough new regulator with new powers to prevent sewage dumps.
This morning the party has set out further details of its plan to replace water industry regulator Ofwat with a new body called the Clean Water Authority to tackle sewage discharges and what it describes as “staggering bonuses for executives.” The new body would have the power to revoke the licences of water companies that have been performing poorly. It would also be located in an area that has been heavily impacted by sewage pollution Clean Water forms a central plank of the Liberal Democrats election campaign.
Setting out its plan to restore the UK’s natural environment, the Manifesto says:
“The Conservatives are using Brexit as an opportunity to erode previously high environmental standards.
Nowhere is the Conservatives’ lack of care for the environment clearer than the national sewage scandal. They are letting water company bosses get away with paying themselves millions of pounds in bonuses while dumping millions of tonnes of raw sewage into our rivers, lakes and coastal areas. Just one in seven of England’s rivers are in good ecological health, and every single one is below chemical pollution standards.”
The Liberal Democrats say they will tackle the “national scandal of sewage-polluted rivers, waterways and beaches”, and make water companies work for people by:
- Introducing a Sewage Tax on water company profits.
- Enforcing existing laws to ensure that the storm overflows only function in exceptional circumstances.
- Setting legally binding targets to prevent sewage dumping into bathing waters and highly sensitive nature sites by 2030.
- Embracing nature-based solutions to tackle the problem of sewage dumping.
- Strengthening the powers of local authorities to monitor the health of our rivers, lakes and coastlines, restore our natural environment and tackle climate change.
- Introducing a ‘blue corridor’ programme for rivers, streams and lakes to ensure clean and healthy water and setting new ‘blue flag’ standards.
- Improving the quantity and quality of bathing waters and sensitive nature sites with more regular and robust testing of water quality.
- Giving local environmental groups a place on water companies’ boards.
- Introducing a single social tariff for water bills to help eliminate water poverty within the next Parliament.
- Implementing Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act to require sustainable drainage systems in new developments.
- Mandating all water companies to publish accessible real-time data on any sewage they dump.
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