Plan to jail water bosses who block watchdog probes moves closer to becoming law
Plan to jail water bosses who block watchdog probes moves closer to becoming law
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Plans to jail water bosses who block watchdog investigations have moved a step closer to becoming law after a Commons debate. Environment Secretary Steve Reed said on Tuesday that billpayers “are rightly angry about the state of our waterways”, as he vowed to “clean up the mess once and for all”.
The Water (Special Measures) Bill passed its third reading on Tuesday unopposed, and has now reached the final stages of its passage through Parliament. MPs have agreed to give regulators the power to block water executives from receiving performance-related bonus payments, if they do not meet standards related to the environment and customer service.
Company bosses will also face up to two years in prison if they obstruct investigations by regulators, including the Drinking Water Inspectorate. Ministers saw off attempts by opposition parties to amend the Bill, including from Conservative shadow environment minister Dr Neil Hudson.
He said authorities should be able to dock water companies’ ability to charge customers by the same amount as the fines they face for poor behaviour, effectively removing fines from bills. Dr Hudson said: “This is very important. “A toxic cocktail of poor behaviour of water companies and rising bill prices has led to many people feeling they’re getting poor value for money and not getting the quality water services they deserve.”.
