Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what legislation enables (1) water and environmental regulators, or (2) the Secretary of State, to levy personal fines or bring criminal prosecutions against directors of water companies for authorising dumping of raw sewage into rivers and seas.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Water and Sewerage Company activities are regulated by the Environment Agency under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016. Pursuant to those Regulations the Agency may bring criminal prosecutions against Water and Sewerage Companies and against Directors or other officers of those companies. The relevant provisions of those regulations can be found here: The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 (legislation.gov.uk). The Environment Agency does not levy personal fines. Fines are set and imposed by the criminal courts after the conviction of an offender as part of the sentencing process.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government which beaches in England were designated as safe for swimming (1) in 2010, and (2) the most recent year for which a list is available.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The physical safety of swimmers and other water users at coastal or inland waters in England is a matter for the local management of the site. The Bathing Water Regulations 2013 are designed to protect water quality and public health relating to pollution and have no provision for physical safety. In 2010, there were 415 designated bathing waters in England. 2022 is the most recent list for designated bathing waters and can be found on GOV.UK. A copy is attached to this answer. Last year, there were 421 designated bathing waters.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to authorise OFWAT (1) to levy personal fines, and (2) to bring criminal prosecutions, against directors of water companies responsible for discharging raw sewage in rivers and seas above the statutory limits.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Ofwat’s direct enforcement powers and sanctions are primarily focused on the regulated business. However, Ofwat is incentivising the link between performance and compliance and the role of individual company staff, which can deter poor performance or non-compliance. For example, under the Environment Bill we gave Ofwat increased powers to modify water company licence conditions under the Environment Act. Ofwat are now consulting on using these powers which will enable them to take enforcement action against companies that don’t link dividend payments to their environmental performance, or those failing to be transparent about their dividend pay-outs.
As the environmental regulator, the Environment Agency can and does prosecute company directors and other senior officers where the necessary evidence can be obtained to meet that test. As set out in Reg 41 Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016, the courts already have powers to fine directors and other officers of companies which are convicted of polluting rivers and coastal waters, where it can be proved that the offence has been committed with the consent or connivance of such officer or attributable to their neglect.
Ofwat, as the independent economic regulator, protects the interests of consumers by ensuring water companies properly carry out their statutory functions, including their environmental responsibilities. They will not hesitate to take enforcement action where these duties are breached.
For instance, in 2019, Ofwat imposed a penalty package on Southern Water of £126 million for spills of wastewater into the environment from its sewerage plants and for deliberately misreporting its performance.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce legislation to give customers of water companies a statutory right to vote on remuneration paid to their directors.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
While the Government has no plans to introduce new legislation at this time, we are supporting Ofwat’s current work to strengthen its powers over executive pay. The options Ofwat is exploring include making shareholders and not customers pay for bonuses going forward, where companies are unable to demonstrate their decisions reflect Ofwat's expectations, including on overall performance. This is set out in Ofwat’s Final Methodology for PR24 published in December.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will introduce legislation enabling members of the general public to prosecute directors of water companies for wilful neglect of their statutory duties.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
We have existing powers to enable regulators to hold directors of companies liable for offences committed by their company if consent, connivance or neglect on their part can be shown. In addition, Ofwat, as the independent economic regulator, protects the interests of consumers by ensuring water companies properly carry out their statutory functions. They will not hesitate to take enforcement action where these duties are breached. In recent years we have seen historic fines placed on water companies, including fines of £90m for Southern Water and £4m for Thames Water in 2021 for serious pollution events.
The Government has introduced a range of further measures through the Environment Act 2021, and we have been clear that if we do not see the significant changes we expect, we will take further action.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the speech 'A water industry that works for everyone' by the then Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 1 March 2018 in which he said that water companies have "avoided paying taxes", what amount of corporate taxes have since been paid by each of the water companies.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The amounts of corporation tax paid by water companies since 1 March 2018 can be viewed in the water companies’ published annual reports and accounts, which are publicly available.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish a table showing the harmful substances released by each water company into rivers and seas.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
In terms of releases to water, the relevant regulatory processes refer to hazardous substances rather than harmful substances; any substance could potentially be harmful. Within the context of this question, substances has been taken to mean chemicals.
The Environment Agency (EA) reports against a range of measures which assess hazardous substances in the water environment. Chemical classification is based on environmental data rather than the monitoring of discharges. The EA has recently published its report on ‘Regulating for people, the environment and growth’ which can be found here, which references some emissions information for different media including water.
The Environment Agency has worked with the water industry on a programme of research into chemicals in discharges from wastewater, including research into technologies that can provide treatment for chemicals. More information on the Chemicals Investigation Programme can be found here with data from the programme so far published and available here. Phase 2 of the programme concluded in 2020 following investment of £140 million and Phase 3 is currently underway. Phase 3 outputs will made available when completed.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on (1) the quality of water, (2) human health, and (3) the soil condition, of the countries receiving plastic waste exported from the UK.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
While waste is a commodity, and there is a legitimate global market for secondary materials, it must be and is subject to strict controls. There is a system of international rules on waste shipments that must be followed when exporting waste. UK legislation requires that those involved in the shipment of waste take all necessary steps to ensure waste is managed in an environmentally sound manner throughout its shipment and at the waste management facility in the country of destination. Any operators found to be illegally exporting waste can face severe sanctions - from financial penalties to imprisonment for a period of up to two years.
The UK Government has conducted no assessment of the impact of UK plastic waste exports. The Government has, however, funded programmes, active in several countries that import plastic waste from the UK, which are working to address the sources of ocean plastic pollution.
Working with the World Economic Forum, the UK has supported the development of National Plastic Action Partnerships (NPAPs) in Ghana and Indonesia, with a third having launched in Vietnam in December 2020, to help create circular plastic economies. In Vietnam this platform aims to help dramatically reduce its flow of plastic waste into the ocean and eliminate single-use plastics from coastal tourist destinations and marine protected areas. We aim to support 25 NPAPs by 2025.
The Commonwealth Litter Programme brings together scientists, policy makers and communities around the world to identify actions which can be taken to stop plastic entering the marine environment, collect beach litter and measure marine microplastics, and raise awareness of what individuals and society can do to protect our marine habitats and wildlife. Having so far worked in Belize, South Africa, the Pacific, and India since its launch in 2018, the Programme is currently expanding in the South Asian region.
Finally, having signed a UK 'Plastics Pact' in 2018, the UK is now funding the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to support Commonwealth countries to develop their own Plastics Pacts. WRAP is working to develop a network of Plastics Pacts around the world to a support broader transition to a Plastic Circular Economy.