The UK government said on Tuesday that its target to reduce sewage overflows by 2050 would be enshrined in law, as it sought to head off a growing political storm over water pollution in England and Wales.
Thérèse Coffey, environment secretary, told the House of Commons the Conservatives’ plan was “credible and costed” and accused her opponents of “cheap shots” and “diatribes”.
The Labour and Liberal Democrat opposition parties have seized on public anger over water companies dumping raw sewage in waterways and coastal areas. The issue has become a key concern ahead of the local elections on May 4.
Tory MPs on Tuesday afternoon saw off a Labour “opposition day motion” that would have allowed it to take control of Commons business one day next month to pass a water quality bill.
The bill would have introduced automatic fines on water companies that dump sewage, set legally binding targets to cut outflows and created a requirement to monitor all sewage outlets.
Labour also launched a controversial attack ad claiming that prime minister Rishi Sunak thinks it is “right to allow raw sewage to be dumped into our rivers and beaches 800 times a day”.
But Rebecca Pow, a junior environment minister, claimed the Labour plan would involve digging up enough length of piping to stretch two and a half times around the world. “How is it going to be paid for?” she asked.
The government has put forward its own £56bn plan for curbing sewage spills, which it said on Tuesday would be legally binding, though it provided no timetable for the legislation. It is unclear how much household bills would need to rise to pay for the improvements.
Its plans, outlined last year, include upgrades to storm overflows next to designated bathing sites by 2035 with the rest following by 2050, as well as stiffer fines for polluting companies.
David Hall, a visiting professor at Greenwich University and water expert, said the government’s targets were “useless with or without statutory backing as there is no plan”.
“All this is doing is setting up the potential for court cases in three decades’ time,” he added.
Ashley Smith, of the Windrush Against Sewage Pollution campaign, said: “All the government has to do is enforce existing law but instead it has allowed itself to be lured into trying to micromanage a water industry that is holding it hostage over costs while continuing to milk the bill payers.”
Coffey said: “I am using the full force of my powers to make sure that we stop the damage caused by storm overflows as quickly as possible. That includes our plans today to put our costed and credible target on a new legal footing.”