THREE Somerset MPs have called for a ban on bonuses for bosses at a water firm ordered to repay customers £5.3 million.
Wessex Water, which provides much of the county’s supply, was ordered to hand the money back to customers through lower bills after being fined for ‘poor performance’.
It was also revealed incidents of storm overflow discharges – where rainwater and potentially sewage are automatically released to prevent flooding – had totalled more than 2,400 in the last two years.
In response, Sarah Dyke (Lib Dem, Glastonbury & Somerton), Gideon Amos (Lib Dem, Taunton & Wellington) and Adam Dance (Lib Dem, Yeovil) called for the regulator to ban bonuses for company chiefs.
Wessex Water said none of its directors had received bonuses related to ‘environmental performance’ for two years – though said bonuses are assessed on “a range of different metrics”.
Ms Dyke said: “The last Conservative government did an appalling job of protecting our waters.
“For years, water companies have been allowed to make record profits while dumping sewage into our rivers and streams and allowing unacceptable amounts of phosphates to poison our waters.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that any company which has had such terrible performance, and utterly failed in its responsibilities should be paying out bonuses while raising prices for customers.”
The MP said she recently met with Wessex Water to inspect their new pollution-cutting technology, as well as having regular meetings with the Environment Agency and clean water charities on the issue.
Yeovil MP Mr Dance MP joined the call for a ban on bonuses.
“For too long the Conservatives allowed water companies to ride roughshod over people in Yeovil and South Somerset, pumping their filthy sewage into our waterways all the while the bosses took home massive bonuses,” he said.
“That must end. No longer should these people be personally rewarded for failing to protect our local environment all while hiking bills on people in our area.”
A Wessex Water spokesperson said: “While we’ve delivered improvements under almost every measure in Ofwat’s report, clearly more needs to be done and we’ve listened to our customers’ concerns in setting out plans to invest £3.65 billion in service improvements from 2025. We now need Ofwat to approve these plans.
“For the second year running, no bonuses relating to environmental performance have been paid to our directors.
“Bonuses are set by an independent remuneration committee and assessed against a range of different metrics.”
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The news comes as MPs prepare to debate the Government’s Water Bill, which it says will allow regulators to block the payment of bonuses to executives of companies that fail to protect the environment by allowing the UK’s waterways to be polluted by sewage.
However, the Lib Dems have said the bill is a “half-measure” and will table an amendment that would enforce an immediate ban on water company bosses’ bonuses until leaks are fixed and sewage spills end.
“Disappointingly, the new government’s bill is only a half-measure and nowhere near tough enough on these polluting firms,” Mr Dance added.
“That is why I am proud to support the Liberal Democrats amendment to the bill, which would ban water company bosses’ bonuses until leaks are fixed and sewage spills end.
“Only then will we start to get a fair deal for people here in Yeovil and South Somerset.”
Over several years customers have paid Wessex Water for regulating the amount of sewage entering our rivers and seas. The government gave them their contracts but obviously never worried if they were working to protect us all and wildlife from pollution. The Conservative Party and all executives should be forced to pay for the cleaning up that has to done. Putting up our bills for a service we have already paid for is criminal.