- Conference
- 2024 Water, Environment & Transport Conference
- Date
- 26 February 2024
- Decision
- Carried
This service group conference is deeply concerned about the levels of illegal sewage discharges by the water industry into rivers. We believe that the current prohibitions against the illegal dumping of sewage waste are woefully inadequate. Worth noting is that releasing sewage into rivers and seas is allowed in the UK to prevent pipe systems becoming overwhelmed, but only when it’s raining heavily.
In May 2023, it was reported in the Guardian that there is no requirement by the water industry to report on the volume of their discharges, but it is only required by the regulator to provide data on the number of discharges and the length of times they lasted. In 2020 alone the water industry discharged raw sewage into waterways 400,000 times and made a profit of £2.2 billion in the same period. Rather than reinvest this money, instead it was used in paying dividends to shareholders and executives’ bonuses.
There is a duty to protect the environment, but the government has failed to hold the water industry accountable and ignored negligence at the heart of the water industry. According to a BBC Panorama programme last year, which referred to a leak document showed some incidents to be serious category 2 incidents, but the Environment Agency downgraded those incidents to the lowest level, category 4. Conference notes that the Environment Agency funding has been cut to the bone which has hindered its ability to identify and investigate dry spills.
It is appalling that the water industry wants to increase customer’s bills by an extra £156 a year, whilst water bosses are pocketing millions in bonuses. Members working in the sector are facing a rise in attacks from the public because of this environmental disaster, which was not caused by frontline workers. UNISON is conducting a survey, and the result will be presented to the industry so they can put in place mechanisms to protect employees.
Whilst Ofwat has been given new powers, these powers do not go far enough. The proceeds of fines must be reinvested in infrastructure. Conference notes we need strengthened regulation and a programme of investment in wastewater and sewage infrastructure fit for the 21st century and an enforcement to boost regional jobs, local communities, and improvements to the environment. There seems to be no end to this downward spiral, and if action is not taken it will lead to redundancies, cuts in pay and reward for members.
Therefore, this conference calls on the WET Service Group Executive to:
• Work with Labour Link to positively campaign on this matter in finding a lasting solution to the raw sewage discharges.
• Use the recommendations from the published water report 2024 to progress the UNISON position on renationalisation of the water industry.
• Monitor the impact of public abuse on employees in the water industry and seek to counter any adverse effects.
• Lobby Defra and the Treasury to cease making cuts to Environment Agency funding and ensure that it has enough employees to significantly improve monitoring of the threats of inadequate storm water and pollution from sewage.
• Report back on progress to WET SG Conference 2025.