Environment Secretary Steve Reed has made a bold and promising move this morning by setting a clear target to reduce sewage pollution in our waterways. In a press conference, he announced his commitment to halve unauthorised sewage leaks within five years or offer to resign from his position.
“I am making an absolute commitment and I am committed to delivering it,” Reed proclaimed. He firmly believes that his job as environment secretary “should” be on the line in order to hold him accountable for this pressing issue.
This ambitious target is a step closer towards Labour’s goal to completely eliminate sewage leaks within a decade. Reed also revealed that the government has secured £104 billion of private investment to tackle the problem.
This is the first time that ministers have set a clear target to reduce sewage pollution, which has been a growing concern in recent years despite public outrage. Labour’s plan also includes halving the use of phosphorus, a harmful chemical that causes algae blooms, by 2028.
Reed’s promise to step down if he fails to meet these targets demonstrates his strong determination to finally solve the problem of water pollution. “Politicians come here and say we are going to do things. Of course, our jobs should be on the line if we don’t,” he told the BBC.
This commitment from a senior minister comes as a ray of hope for the countless individuals and communities affected by sewage pollution in our waterways. However, BBC presenter Laura Kuenssberg pointed out that this is not the first time that ministers have promised to address the issue, and Reed’s pledge to halve the leaks only brings us back to the levels seen in 2019.
In fact, The Guardian reported that water companies in England had discharged raw sewage into rivers on more than 200,000 occasions in 2019. This raises the question of whether this target is actually ambitious enough to make a significant impact.
Moreover, there have been six different environment secretaries in the last six years, which diminishes Reed’s offer to step down as there has been a constant turnover in the role. While five of those ministers were from the Conservative party, Labour has been in power for a year now, and yet the Environment Agency found that serious water pollution incidents rose by 60% last year in England.
It is clear that successive promises from ministers to tackle sewage pollution have not had any significant impact, as the number of spills continue to rise. Lib Dem leader Ed Davey has called Labour’s latest vows “empty promises” and urged the government to show more ambition in tackling the issue.
“We need to see far more ambition from this government with an end to all sewage dumping in bathing waters by 2030,” Davey said.
Reed’s pledge came just before the publication of the Independent Water Commission’s report, which will be released on Monday. This report may advise the government to scrap water regulator Ofwat altogether. However, Davey warned that this should not be used as an excuse to delay immediate reforms.
“This report must not be used as an excuse to kick the can down the road on immediate reforms,” he said. “We need to see action now, including replacing Ofwat with a tough new regulator to end this national scandal.”
For years, water companies have paid out millions in dividends and bonuses, and it would be unfair to burden customers with higher bills to cover up for their mistakes. The Tory shadow secretary for levelling up, Kevin Hollinrake, also welcomed Reed’s plans but compared them to “shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic.”
“It’s really important that the regulation is effective,” he said. “We put in a lot of measures to give Ofwat more powers to regulate the water industry, and a lot of those things were very effective. Nevertheless, there’s a lot more to do.”
Hollinrake also urged for more action and welcomed the pledge to halve sewage outflows by 2030. However, he emphasized the need for effective regulation to ensure that these targets are met.
Leader of the Reform UK party, Nigel Farage, had a more radical suggestion. He proposed that Labour should let the water companies go bust, causing the shareholders to lose all their money. Farage believes that fresh investment and a complete restructuring of the industry are necessary to address the issue of sewage pollution in our waterways.
“It would be deeply unfair if customers are now made to pick up the tab for this scandal through higher bills,” Farage told Sky News.
It is evident
