On 11 December 2023, the new Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Steve Barclay announced changes to the Variable Monetary Penalties that the Environment Agency can impose. This means that companies in breach of Environmental Permits in key areas could be subject to unlimited financial penalties, replacing the earlier cap of £250,000.
This will apply to a wider range of offences, including –
“Breach of permit conditions from sites that discharge into rivers and seas – for example from sewage treatment works and permitted storm overflows;
Illegal discharges to water where there is no permit such as in the event of agricultural pollution from slurry stores;
Illegal waste offences, such as from illegal scrapyards or unpermitted waste management facilities;
Permit breaches from manufacturing industries and power stations which contribute to air pollution.”
Penalties will be proportionate to the size of the company and the nature of the offence, in line with Sentencing Council guidelines.
The Secretary of State announced at the same time the launch of a Water Restoration Fund, and that the penalties raised from the imposition of financial penalties would be ‘ring fenced’ and applied towards restoring and protecting waters.
The enactment of the new changes to the Environmental Permitting regime was accompanied by letters dated 11 December 2023 from the Secretary of State both to the Environment Agency and to water companies. The letter to the Environment Agency said that –
“Water company performance, specifically, is below the standards we should expect. The public rightly expect that I will hold not only water companies, but also their enforcement agencies to account, and that is one of my top priorities in this role. I expect significant improvements in the regulatory oversight of water companies…
…I look forward to seeing your use of these new powers to ensure that polluters are held to account and are appropriately deterred from breaking our environmental laws.”
The letter to water company Chief Executives pointed out that –
“Tackling storm overflow sewage discharges is a key priority for both the Prime Minister, myself and, most importantly, the public…
…We expect companies to outline the spill reductions that you will secure in the next twelve months as a result of an enhanced maintenance programme…this is a core legal requirement that you should already be delivering…”
Comment
Maximum transparency and sustained political pressure has brought about changes in both tone and substance in government policy, on storm overflow sewage discharges in particular, and that is welcome. The changes are significant as an unmistakeable signal to water companies that, in an election year, the government is feeling the heat from vociferous public demands for improvements in water quality and the cleanliness of rivers and beaches, and the announcement that penalties will be ring fenced and applied to water restoration projects is particularly welcome.
It is also true to say that this announcement only addresses part of the problem. If the government is serious about river and coastal water quality, it should ensure that in practice the Environment Agency has the human and financial resources to be able to monitor pollution incidents and to apply these new powers effectively. And it should also be addressing all the other sources of water pollution, from diffuse pollution from agriculture, including pesticides and farm chemicals, to households, which contribute a range of toxic chemicals. This was the conclusion of the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee report Water Quality in Rivers in 2022.