Ban bonuses for water firm bosses until sewage spills stopped, urge Lib Dems

theguardian.com:

Bonuses should be banned for water company bosses until sewage spills into rivers stop, the Liberal Democrats are to demand.

Executives were awarded £27m in bonuses over the past two years despite pumping out raw sewage into waterways 1,000 times a day, analysis by the party has found.

The former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron is tabling a 10-minute rule bill that will also ask for mandatory targets and timescales for the end of sewage discharges into waterways and coastal areas. It would require quarterly reports on the impact of sewage discharges on the environment, and place a representative of environmental groups on water company boards.

Companies House records show that executives at England’s water and sewage companies were paid £48m in 2020 and 2021, including £27.6m in bonuses, benefits and incentives.

This is despite recent reports from the Environment Agency showing 772,000 sewage dumping events took place in 2020 and 2021 – more than 1,000 a day.

Campaigners have suggested that the money spent on bonuses would be better spent on infrastructure to prevent sewage spills, which can harm wildlife as well as human health.

The party has called for the executives to hand back last year’s bonuses and for funds to be used to clean up sewage spills.

The Lib Dem leader, Ed Davey, said: “The Conservatives are allowing water companies to pump raw sewage into our precious rivers and lakes while awarding themselves obscene bonuses. Just like the millions paid out to bankers during the financial crisis, the public will find this hard to stomach.

“Liberal Democrat plans for a sewage bonus ban would stop water company execs being paid a penny in bonuses more until our waterways are protected from sewage dumps. These bosses should be made