But this summer, many local people have been more concerned than ever about the quality of the water at our bathing sites. In the middle of the recent heatwave the Environment Agency took the decision to err on the side of caution and close Hill Head and Lee-on-the-Solent beaches after two incidents of a burst waste water pipe.
As if rubbing salt into the wound, the frustration of hearing about the state of our local waters is compounded when you read that the Chief Executive of Southern Water has been rewarded with a £691,000 ‘incentive’ payment – effectively a 100 per cent pay increase.
I’ve written to the CEO of Southern Water suggesting he might want to rethink the morality of accepting this payment against the backdrop of a prospective 46.7 per cent rise in our Southern Water bills.
Sadly, this pay rise and others like it seem to be a direct result of action by this Government to ban bonuses. The Chairman of Thames Water warned a Parliamentary Committee that there were ways around Labour’s bonus ban. Et voila.
The good news is that, this month, the Environment Secretary made a big announcement about the ‘new’ actions the Labour Government are taking to tackle the issue of water pollution.
The bad news is that none of this was new. Virtually all of it had already been launched over two years ago under the previous Conservative government.
In 2023 Conservatives announced a £104 billion investment package in water infrastructure with the aim of cutting spills by 45 per cent.
Labour now say they want to halve spills. Even at face value this is as ambitious as a margin of error in the calculations.
But if you dig a little deeper, you’ll see that the Labour target is far less ambitious than the Conservative one. We promised to cut sewage spills by 45 per cent of 2021 levels, whilst Labour’s commitment is from 2024, setting themselves a far easier baseline.
These things matter if we are to realise the ambitions set out in the Conservative 2021 Environment Act. That was the law we passed to force water companies to monitor sewage overflows (which resulted in 100 per cent monitoring; up from 7 per cent in 2010) and set out clear plans to reduce them. It’s another policy Labour have nicked for their big announcement this week.
As someone who frequently swims off Stokes Bay, I hate the thought of stepping into polluted water. It’s vital that there is consistent messaging and communication between Southern Water, the Environment Agency, and residents. I try to keep everyone updated where I can, but the numbers are unfathomable and I have written to both organisations to ask about how they track sewage spills, because their figures just don’t match up.
I’m also arranging a public meeting for my constituents with representatives from Southern Water in September, so they can hear from local people face to face.
What’s already clear is that our water companies need to recognise public anger and up their game.
