Ativists slam government’s river clean-up plan as ineffective and cost-free | UK | News


Feargal Sharkey has slammed the Government’s plan to clean Britain’s rivers which “costs nothing” and “will achieve even less.”

Environment Secretary Steve Reed has said water company bosses face two years in prison for obstructing investigations under Government reforms.

But river activists have warned they do not believe anybody will be going to prison” judging by the “small print” of the new Water Bill.

They added that regulation to clamp down on water firm bosses’ bonuses already exists but has never been enforced. 

Former Undertones frontman Mr Sharkey said: “I think Government had a real opportunity here to show clear visionary leadership, to show it had an action plan, to fix all of this, and unfortunately we’ve ended up with a long list of stuff that, frankly, costs nothing and I suspect will achieve even less.”

He also criticised the new Water Bill for failing to target a “dysfunctional regulatory system”.

Sewage spills into England’s rivers and seas by water companies more than doubled in 2023.

There were 3.6 million hours of spills, compared to 1.75 million hours in 2022, according to the Environment Agency.

Mr Sharkey, a keen angler, said: “The failure has clearly got to do with regulatory failure and a regulatory system that’s completely dysfunctional; there’s nothing here that deals with that, that even discusses it, there’s no reform.

“We don’t need new regulations, we don’t need new laws, we’ve got 35 years’ worth of laws that have never been applied – you should force them (the regulators) to go out and apply the law as it stands today, that would have been a massive step forward.”

Mr Reed insisted his Government’s reforms of the water sector will unlock the biggest private sector investment in history.

The Cabinet minister addressed industry representatives, academics, investors and environmental groups about the newly-announced Water (Special Measures) Bill at the Thames Rowing Club in Putney, west London, on Thursday.

Mr Reed said the Government will launch a review and consultation on how the entire sector works, which will ultimately shape future legislation and establish the long-term framework for reforms, including pollution targets and plans for attracting private investment.

The Environment Secretary did not give a timetable for when the review will be carried out or published, saying details will be announced in autumn.

Pressed on when the public might see results on water pollution and if the Government has a target yet, he said: “What we’re doing now is working with the entire sector to develop a long-term plan that will have milestones in it to show how much sewage will be reduced by which point, ending at the point where we’ve eliminated pollution.”

During his speech, Mr Reed also ruled out any future nationalisation of water firms under the Labour Government.

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