The government has U-turned by deciding to put legal controls on water firms dumping raw sewage in the sea and rivers across the country despite recently forcing Tory MPs to vote down similar proposals.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) announced on Tuesday that the Environment Bill “will be further strengthened with an amendment that will see a duty enshrined in law to ensure water companies secure a progressive reduction in the adverse impacts of discharges from storm overflows”.
It comes after several Tory MPs faced a huge backlash from constituents and campaign groups after they voted down an amendment tabled by the Lords last week.
Environment Secretary George Eustice said: “Earlier this summer, the government published a new strategy for Ofwat mandating them to progressively reduce the discharge of sewage from storm overflows in the next pricing review.
“Following a debate in the House of Commons last week during the final stages of the Environment Bill, today we are announcing that we will put that commitment on a statutory footing with a new clause.”
During periods of heavy rain or storms, wastewater is released into rivers and coastal areas as a way to prevent sewers from becoming overloaded by sewage and rain then backing up into homes and businesses.
But the UK’s water infrastructure has been struggling to keep pace as climate change causes greater rainfall and the population continues to grow, meaning water firms are resorting to sewage outfalls more and more frequently.
Earlier on Tuesday, a Downing Street spokesman said the government agrees that “the current failure of water companies to adequately reduce sewage discharges is unacceptable”.
But he defended the government’s position to force MPs to vote down the original amendment as it…
Source : skynews
