Water firm river pollution fines must be spent on rivers, MPs to say
Water firm river pollution fines must be spent on rivers, MPs to say
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Lib Dem Tim Farron seeks law to protect fund as Treasury tries to take control of £11m. Fines from water companies that pollute rivers must be ringfenced by law to be spent on restoring water quality in rivers, MPs will urge. The Treasury is trying to take control of £11m in fines from water companies, which was intended for small charities to restore rivers, in a move criticised by river restoration campaigners as “appalling”.
In an attempt to protect the water restoration fund, and ensure future fines collected from water companies are used to restore the river environment, the Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron is seeking an amendment on Tuesday to the water special measures bill in parliament.
Mark Lloyd, the chief executive of the Rivers Trust, which supports the amendment, along with other environmental charities, said: “Rumours that the water restoration fund will be abandoned and the money swallowed up by the Treasury have troubled us deeply.
“This course of action would seriously – perhaps irreversibly – damage the chances of achieving our vision of wild, healthy, natural rivers, and would not be in accordance with one of the government’s key manifesto pledges and Defra’s top priority mission.”.
Farron’s amendment is one of a number being debated on Tuesday. The Labour MP Clive Lewis is backing an amendment proposed by Farron to stop bill payers being forced to bail out failing water companies if they are taken into special administration. The amendment comes as the government moves towards putting struggling Thames Water into special administration, as the biggest of the privatised water companies tries to face down bankruptcy.
