Labour will eliminate unauthorised sewage spillages in a decade, environment secretary says
Steve Reed also pledged to halve sewage pollution from water companies by 2030 as he announced £104 billion of private investment to help the government do that.
But he told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips this "isn't the end of our ambition" and eliminating unauthorised sewage spillages over the next decade is part of Labour's "decade of national renewal".
He added: "Over a decade of national renewal, we'll be able to eliminate unauthorised sewage spillages.
"But you have to have staging posts along the way, cutting it in half in five years is a dramatic improvement to the problem getting worse and worse and worse every single year."
He said the water sector is "absolutely broken" and promised to rebuild it and reform it from "top to bottom".
His earlier pledge to halve sewage pollution from water companies by 2030 is linked to 2024 levels.
The government said it is the first time ministers have set a clear target to reduce sewage pollution and is part of its efforts to respond to record sewage spills and rising water bills.
Ministers are also aiming to cut phosphorus - which causes harmful algae blooms - in half by 2028.
Mr Reed said families had watched rivers, coastlines and lakes "suffer from record levels of pollution".
"My pledge to you: the government will halve sewage pollution from water companies by the end of the decade," he added.
Addressing suggestions wealthier families would be charged more for their water, Mr Reed said there are already "social tariffs" and he does not think more needs to be done as he pointed out there is help for those struggling to pay water bills.
The announcement comes ahead of the publication of the Independent Water Commission's landmark review into the sector on Monday morning.
The commission was established by the UK and Welsh governments as part of their joint response to failures in the industry, but ministers have already said they'll stop short of nationalising water companies.
Mr Reed said he is eagerly awaiting the report's publication and said he would wait to see what author Sir John Cunliffe says about OFWAT, the water regulator, following suggestions the government is considering scrapping it.
On Friday, the Environment Agency published data which showed serious pollution incidents caused by water firms increased by 60% in England last year, compared with 2023.
1:38
Meanwhile, the watchdog has received a record £189m to support hundreds of enforcement officers for inspections and prosecutions.
"One of the largest infrastructure projects in England's history will clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good," Mr Reed said.
But the Conservatives have accused the Labour government of having so far "simply copied previous Conservative government policy".
"Labour's water plans must also include credible proposals to improve the water system's resilience to droughts, without placing an additional burden on bill payers and taxpayers," shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins added.
The Rivers Trust says sewage and wastewater discharges have taken place over the weekend, amid thunderstorms in parts of the UK.
Discharges take place to prevent the system from becoming overwhelmed, with storm overflows used to release extra wastewater and rainwater into rivers and seas.
Water company Southern Water said storm releases are part of the way sewage and drainage systems across the world protect homes, schools and hospitals from flooding.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
34 minutes ago
- Times
Independence or more immigration? Why Scotland can't have both
T here was a fascinating piece in The Sunday Times by my colleague David Leask about English folk becoming SNP candidates for the Holyrood election. One was Math Campbell-Sturgess, a 42-year-old former army reservist from Cambridgeshire. 'Independence isn't about where you come from,' he said. 'It's about who makes the decisions that matter in your life.' Campbell-Sturgess is not typical of English folk living in Scotland. Leask unearthed hitherto-unseen polling data that breaks down people's views on independence according to their country of birth. Only 35 per cent of English-born voters in Scotland support independence, and 65 per cent prefer a UK that sticks together. Immigrants to Scotland from further afield have similar views: only 40 per cent are in favour of breaking up Britain while 60 per cent are opposed.
Times
36 minutes ago
- Times
School closed over VAT on fees ordered to pay teachers' lost wages
Staff who lost their jobs at the first private school in Scotland to close due to Labour's VAT policy have been awarded a payout for withheld wages. Kilgraston School in Perthshire closed in August last year with debts of more than £910,000 despite campaigning by parents and alumni to save it. The boarding school claimed it was a victim of the chancellor Rachel Reeves's decision to end the VAT exemption for fee-paying schools. At tribunals brought by teachers and staff who lost their jobs Judge Ian McFatridge ruled that wages had been unlawfully withheld by school management in the months leading up to Kilgraston's closure. His judgment, first reported by The Courier, also stated that staff who made claims should be awarded damages for being 'dismissed in breach of contract' in two instances. • Magnus Linklater: We all lose from Labour's VAT on school fees Kilgraston, in Bridge of Earn, failed to recruit enough pupils to stay afloat and its historic estate will be auctioned this month, having been valued at more than £1.6 million. McFatridge ordered Kilgraston School Trust to pay a total of £23,430 in unpaid wages and subsequent damages to three former members of staff. Kilgraston School Trust, which is now sequestered by PwC, did not respond to any of the claims brought to the tribunal. George Heriot's School has just agreed a 6 per cent increase in fees ALAMY In a letter to parents and former pupils sent last year, the school claimed the potential impact of changes to VAT exemptions for private schools and a roll of only 173 pupils were factors in its closure. It claimed it would need 210 pupils to break even and would have to plug an £860,000 black hole in its finances. The school also had £3.4 million of loans and finance commitments to pay. It was left with 'no choice' but to close, the board of trustees said. • Private schools VAT plan will benefit England over Scotland, says head Labour's controversial introduction of VAT on private schools was estimated to raise an extra £1.7 billion for the Treasury and to generate £150 million for Scotland's budget. However, head teachers warned it could have unintended consequences, such as the closure of private schools and overcrowding in state schools accommodating new pupils. Fee-paying schools across Scotland have raised concerns about the rising costs of private education and the impact on parents. Governors at George Heriot's School in Edinburgh agreed a 6 per cent increase in fees for this academic year while George Watson's College, also in Edinburgh, put fees up by 9 per cent, an increase of nearly £2,000.
The Guardian
36 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Big-spending Liverpool aim to build on their Premier League title success
Almost £300m worth of talent added to a squad that cruised to the Premier League title last season and Liverpool may not be spent yet. Whatever they're smoking in Boston is having an unusual effect on a global fanbase. Big-spending Liverpool, blowing competitors from Bayern Munich to Newcastle out of the water with their pulling and spending power, may be a strange reality for supporters who not so long ago sang: 'The Reds have got no money, but we'll still win the league.' The chant can be retired now that the first part is demonstrably untrue. It always was. When Hugo Ekitiké completes his move from Eintracht Frankfurt, for a deal that Liverpool would be delighted to reach £79m because it would represent further success at club and individual level, the champions will have made two of the three biggest signings in their history in the space of five weeks. Fenway Sports Group, Liverpool's Boston-based owner, would have been prepared to break the club's transfer record twice in that timeframe but for Newcastle's insistence that Alexander Isak is not for sale. It appears a radical departure by FSG to build so ambitiously from a position of strength, while sending an ominous warning to Premier League rivals with designs on closing the gap. But Liverpool maintain there has been no change in strategy and that the club continue to be run along self-sustaining lines. The approach that enabled them to transform Jürgen Klopp's team in 2018 by buying Alisson and Virgil van Dijk with the proceeds of Philippe Coutinho's £142m sale to Barcelona has also shaped plans for sustained success under Arne Slot. The benefits of thinking long term have paid off. No profitability and sustainability issues here. The answer to how Liverpool have been able to spend heavily this summer is dull, out of step with many clubs throughout the English football pyramid and anathema to those besotted with winning the transfer window over genuine prizes: financial discipline. Liverpool last spent big in the summer of 2023 when rebuilding Klopp's midfield to the tune of £145m while recouping £52m from the sales of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson to the Saudi Pro League. Not a penny was spent in the January transfer windows of 2024 and 2025, and last summer, Slot's first in charge, brought an outlay of only £10m for Federico Chiesa, the amount received from Salzburg for Bobby Clark. Liverpool made a profit of £42.5m last summer with the sales of Fábio Carvalho and Sepp van den Berg to Brentford (if taking the initial £25m for Valencia's goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili – agreed 12 months ago – into this year's expenditure). The club's faith in the rebuilding work of 2023 explained their reticence to re-enter the market in three successive windows, and was vindicated with title No 20 in April. The importance of Champions League qualification to Liverpool's financial health was evident in their last set of published accounts, for the year to 31 May 2024, which showed a £57m loss mainly as a consequence of missing out that year and competing in the Europa League. Revenue for this year is projected to pass £700m for the first time with the club making more than £80m from the return to the Champions League and about £180m from the triumphant Premier League campaign. Matchday and commercial revenue will have increased as Liverpool continue to benefit from the redevelopments of the Main Stand and Anfield Road Stand. This summer's transfer business – with Ekitiké soon to join the record signing Florian Wirtz, Mamardashvili, Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez, the young Hungarian goalkeeping prospect Armin Pecsi and goalkeeping cover Freddie Woodman – leaves the champions looking stronger on paper before their title defence. Any predictions for Liverpool this season, of course, must be tempered by the unknown and unimaginable factor of a team dealing with the tragic death of one of their own in Diogo Jota. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion There is certainly greater depth and versatility to Slot's squad, plus more opportunity to rotate beyond domestic cup competitions. Slot tended to stick with a trusted core of players in the Premier League last season. There is no disputing the methods of a coach who wins the title in his debut season at Liverpool with ease and four matches to spare, although Slot himself suspected fatigue played a part in the Carabao Cup final defeat by Newcastle. Ekitiké, a France Under-21 international who scored 22 goals in his one and only season at Eintracht, may not be Liverpool's final signing of a statement summer. The Premier League champions remain keen on Crystal Palace's central defender Marc Guéhi and there would be appetite for another forward should Bayern eventually succeed in their pursuit of Luis Díaz. Liverpool maintain Díaz is not for sale and that their €100m (£86.8m) valuation of the Colombia international is for accounting purposes rather than an asking price. That may be so but if that valuation is met and Díaz departs, and Liverpool get what they want for Darwin Núñez (£55m), Harvey Elliott (£40m-plus), Chiesa (£10m) and Tyler Morton (£15m), the club could yet recoup more than £200m before the transfer window closes on 1 September. A well-run champion does not ease up.
