The regulator said the reduction in government funding had put pressure on the Environment Agency’s efforts to take action against pollution from water companies.
The agency’s chief executive, Sir James Bevin, said prosecuting companies for breaching environmental rules was one of the “key weapons in our arsenal”, but they were doing less, in part because of resource constraints.
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He told the House of Lords Industry and Regulation Committee that over the past 10 years, the government’s overall funding for the agency’s environmental work, including enforcement, had “reduced”, putting pressure on staff numbers and prosecution resources.
But he said it had grown this year, a very “welcome reversal” from the previous decline.
Sir James appeared before the committee with Environment Agency chairman Alan Lovell to answer questions about water companies’ environmental performance and regulation.
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The reputation of the water industry has been hit by growing public concern over sewage spills into rivers and oceans, pollution from water treatment works, assessments of poor environmental performance by some companies and a hose ban imposed this summer amid massive leaks .
UNEP also warned about the impact of population growth and climate change on water supplies, saying industry, regulators, governments and the public all needed to act to increase supply and reduce demand.
Mr Lovell suggested water bills should be increased – through social tariffs to protect those who can’t afford the rise – to raise awareness of the value of water and support earlier hose bans in some cases.
Irregularities
He also welcomed new environment minister Ranil Jayawardena’s intention to increase EA’s “variable fine” level from a maximum of £250,000 to £250 million as part of efforts to tackle breaches by water companies .
Mr Lovell said the criminal proof standard would have to be met for such fines to be imposed, but it “certainly gives us a bigger stick with which to track down water companies for bad behaviour”.
He said he hoped Mr Jayawardena would deliver on his promise soon.
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Sir James also told the committee that there had been a lot of concern from the public and the media about integrated sewage overflows, which spilled sewage into rivers or coastal waters after heavy rains, to prevent sewers, and to treat stormwater backups.
But he said the combined sewage spill was not the biggest contributor to pollution in UK waters, with the main problems being the failure of water treatment works and agricultural runoff.
The “cleanest solution” for sewer outlets – replacing the Victorian sewer system with a modern system that separates sewage from stormwater – will cost around £10-200bn to install across the country.
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He said: “Over the past 20 years, bathing water has become cleaner, thanks to investments by water companies to reduce spills, regulation by the Environment Agency and collaboration with local authorities, which is very good news.
“This summer, I think due to the increased direct public interest in river sewage, as far as we know, almost any incident of spills onto beaches has been reported as outrageous.
“One leak is too much right now, but I think we have to recognise that the system is a Victorian designed system.
“In the short term we want these companies to be able to operate their facilities in order to minimize leakage, and in the long term we need them to find alternative solutions.”
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When it comes to enforcement action against water companies, Sir James said: “We are not allowed to use the £200m we get on average from water companies a year to pay for the cost of regulating and prosecuting them.
“This means that the only funding we have to enforce and prosecute comes in the form of grants, and over the past 10 years the overall funding UNEP has received from successive governments for our environmental work has decreased.
“It’s putting pressure on our numbers and our prosecution resources, but it’s a very welcome reversal of this year’s trend of declining budgets given to us by the government.”
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Emily Beament is an environmental reporter for PA Media.
