According to Labour’s analysis, the discharge of raw sewage has more than doubled since 2016, when the Tory leadership hopeful was environment secretary. That rose from 1.47 per overflow six years ago to 29.3 in 2021, according to the analysis of official data. That increase coincided with Ms Truss cutting £80m of sewage monitors as part of a £235m Tory ax to the EA budget, which she called “efficiency savings”. It comes amid intense scrutiny over the health of the UK’s waters, with new figures showing that raw sewage has been released into the environment more than a million times in the last five years. The Independent also revealed that all sewerage companies in England and Wales failed to meet their pollution or sewage flooding targets last year. The Environment Agency works closely with water companies to ensure they closely monitor and report on their discharge activity. As Environment Secretary, Ms Truss justified the cuts by saying “there are ways we can make savings as a department” citing better use of technology and collaboration between agencies. Liz Truss previously spent time as environment secretary (Jacob King/PA) (PA wire) But shadow environment secretary Jim McMahon said: “Under the Tories, the country is facing a water crisis. Our water infrastructure is at bursting point, with billions of liters of water wasted every day and raw sewage dumped into our waters. “The fact that Liz Truss was the one who cut EA [Environment Agency] so seriously, she not only demonstrates a lack of foresight, but also a lack of attention to detail in recognizing the need to adapt to the severe flooding that had just occurred on her watch. “Labour will tackle the challenges to our water system by strengthening regulation and making water company bosses legally and financially accountable for their negligence.” There have been protests this year calling for an end to sewage pollution (Ben Birchall/PA) (PA wire) A senior Environment Agency adviser told the Guardian about the cuts: “They have plummeted to the point where it was impossible for the Environment Agency to know what was going on. “They had no control or monitoring capability that was meaningful. They ceded monitoring control to water companies, which ended up being able to mark their own work. They take their own samples and assess compliance. “We’ve seen it doesn’t work – look at what happened to Southern Water, who didn’t declare the pollution incidents and ended up being fined by the EA when they were discovered. A few liters of sewage spill into the sea in Sussex forcing beaches to be closed to swimming “There are suspicions that this may be happening across the board. It has been left to citizen scientists to monitor and fill in the blanks.” Mr Lewis added: “A lot of this would have happened under Liz Truss. he was there when some of these cuts were made. She was a poor minister and the Environment Agency has been cut to the bone and cannot monitor or regulate effectively.” Labour’s analysis comes as dozens of pollution warnings were issued for beaches and swimming spots in England and Wales after heavy rain overwhelmed the sewer system. In recent years there has been growing public outrage at the volume of raw or partially treated sewage being pumped into UK rivers and coastal waters. Water companies are being criticized for not putting money back into the UK’s aging water infrastructure, with growing pressure on ministers to intervene. They were also accused of “gross negligence” this week after it was revealed sewage monitors at many British beaches were either faulty or missing. Environmental charities have warned of polluted coastlines (Average PA) On Monday, No 10 said it was the duty of companies to put customers before shareholders, with a spokesman saying: “We are clear that the failure of water companies to adequately reduce sewage discharges is completely unacceptable. “They have a duty to put their clients before shareholders and we would expect them to take urgent action on this matter or face fines.” He added: “We continue to speak to them regularly. The Environment Agency is undertaking enforcement action and monitoring, which we have stepped up.” Downing Street also said water companies were already facing legal action from regulators. Raw sewage has been dumped into the environment more than a million times in the past five years, figures show (Getty Images) The spokesman said: “Since 2015 the Environment Agency has brought 48 prosecutions against water and sewerage companies, securing more than £137m in fines.” He added that since privatisation, the equivalent of £5bn had been invested in upgrading water infrastructure, but companies needed to “continue to take action”. Sir Keir Starmer earlier accused the government of having its head in the sand over the scale of sewage being dumped into Britain’s waterways. He said: “I think there is a huge amount of anger about the sewage situation, because we are again seeing sewage being pumped into our rivers and into our seas. “What it shows is that the government has not been tough enough on water companies and anti-water company enforcement. “Of course, at the same time they are cutting money to the Environment Agency.” A spokesman for Ms Truss said: “These spending cuts were part of a wider drive by central government to find efficiencies in departmental budgets and across government services. “It is vital that we understand the pollution in our water and ensure it is clean and safe for all to enjoy. As Prime Minister, Liz will ensure that the necessary steps are taken to achieve this.” Additional reporting from the Press Association
