News EditorSolicitors Journal

Ofwat sets out measures to penalise companies failing to monitor storm overflows

Ofwat sets out measures to penalise companies failing to monitor storm overflows

Companies will be subject to financial penalties where they have not met targets

The Water Services Regulation Authority, otherwise known as Ofwat, announced new measures on 9 May to hold companies to account when they fail to monitor their storm overflows. The regulator is mandating storm overflows targets by all companies on reducing the average number of spills from such overflows and where such targets are not met, companies will be subject to financial penalties.  

The regulator’s press release explains that where a company’s storm overflows do not have a working monitor, it will be assumed that the spills from these overflows are twice as bad as the current average, in order to make sure that companies have an incentive to ensure that their monitors are working correctly.

A separate ongoing investigation by Ofwat into all wastewater companies in England and Wales is looking into how companies are operating their sewage treatment works, including whether sewage has been unnecessarily discharged into the environment. The investigation, so far, includes enforcement cases against six wastewater companies.

A consultation by the regulator on the proposed update to the performance commitment on storm overflows is accepting comments until 23 May.

Commenting on 18 May on the steps announced by water and sewage companies to invest in storm overflows to reduce spills into rivers and seas, Environmental Audit Committee Chairman, Rt Hon Philip Dunne MP, said: “The water and sewage sector is in listening mode and has provided a promising plan to tackle poor water quality and take vital steps to improve the country’s ageing sewerage infrastructure. The scale of investment now proposed is very welcome, albeit long overdue: it is an encouraging step in the right direction. I hope that Ofwat will approve this material increase in the proportion of the sector’s capital investment devoted to improving water quality, as the Committee has been advocating. The plan must look to prioritise the locations most susceptible to damaging overflows, as well as those where improvement can assist most in achieving nutrient neutrality in sensitive catchments. […] People are quite rightly sick and tired of the repeated reports of sewage flowing into our rivers and seas, and we must put a stop to it. Today’s initiatives, if delivered fully, could go a long way to addressing these understandable concerns and returning the country’s precious waterways to good health.”

AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement
Latest News

Browne Jacobson collaborates with LGiU on report highlighting “critical” role of local government to hit net zero

Fri Sep 22 2023

BSB publishes new guidance on barristers’ conduct in non-professional life and on social media

Fri Sep 22 2023

The Chancery Lane Project expands to the USA

Thu Sep 21 2023

Delay in Final Report of the Infected Blood Inquiry

Thu Sep 21 2023

Attorney General presents UK intervention in Ukraine case against Russia at International Court of Justice

Thu Sep 21 2023

Firms losing potential clients by failing to return their calls, research shows

Thu Sep 21 2023

Powers of attorney modernised as legislation allows CILEX Lawyers to certify LPA copies for the first time

Thu Sep 21 2023

Stark contrast between Government response to Post Office Horizon victims and Infected Blood

Wed Sep 20 2023

ACSO comments on the Justice select Committee report:

Wed Sep 20 2023
FeaturedThe dangers of funding assumptions
The dangers of funding assumptions
Ethics Institute launches taskforce to examine legal services to oligarchs and kleptocrats
Ethics Institute launches taskforce to examine legal services to oligarchs and kleptocrats
Legal Departments See Higher Matter Volumes but Flat or Declining Budgets: Thomson Reuters 2023 Legal Department Operations Index
Legal Departments See Higher Matter Volumes but Flat or Declining Budgets: Thomson Reuters 2023 Legal Department Operations Index
More Than 200 Employers Named And Shamed For Failing To Pay National Minimum Wage
More Than 200 Employers Named And Shamed For Failing To Pay National Minimum Wage
SJ Interview: Hannah Ambrose
SJ Interview: Hannah Ambrose
Whose human rights are more important, yours or mine?
Whose human rights are more important, yours or mine?