Wednesday, August 09, 2023
Holding the sewage companies to account
The Guardian reports that the public could receive hundreds of millions of pounds in compensation in the first class action against water companies which are alleged to have failed to reveal the true scale of raw sewage discharges, and abused their position as privatised monopolies.
They say that a collective case against six water companies alleges they have failed to properly report sewage spills and pollution of rivers and seas to the Environment Agency and Ofwat, the regulator for England and Wales:
The first of six parallel claims is against Severn Trent Water on behalf of its 8 million customers. Claims against Thames Water, United Utilities, Anglian Water, Yorkshire Water and Northumbrian Water are being brought in the coming months.
The legal claims allege the water companies have breached competition law by failing to report discharges which would have affected the price they can charge to customers.
The number of pollution incidents a company reports, and any breaches to permits attached to water treatment plants to control raw sewage releases, are actors in determining the price water companies can charge for their services. So, the claims allege, underreporting of pollution means water companies could have been overcharging customers.
Prof Carolyn Roberts, an environmental and water consultant represented by the law firm Leigh Day, is bringing the claims at the competition tribunal on behalf of more than 20 million householders who are customers of the water firms. The claims say customers have been overcharged because the companies abused their monopoly positions. They failed to fully report the scale of raw sewage discharges into rivers and seas, and in doing so avoided penalties which would have had an impact on the price they could charge customers, the claim alleges. As a result, Roberts says, customers have been overcharged to the tune of hundreds of millions of pounds.
Roberts, emeritus professor of environment at Gresham College, said she had been researching rivers since the 1970s. “The last two decades have been catastrophic for rivers and I want something done about it,” she said. “The population of the UK has a right to expect that our rivers, lakes and seas will generally be clean, except under exceptional circumstances.
“It appears that because of the serial and serious underreporting at the heart of these claims, water companies have been avoiding being penalised by Ofwat. I believe this has resulted in consumers being unfairly overcharged for sewage services.”
Roberts said millions of customers had been paying their water bills on the basis that water companies were meeting their targets, but instead every year water companies let raw or partly treated sewage into the environment in breach of the rules.
She argues in her legal claim that the water companies have been breaking competition law by misleading the Environment Agency and Ofwat as to the number of pollution incidents they made into rivers, lakes, coastal areas and other waterways, causing damage to the environment. The number of pollution incidents a company reports to the regulators is an important factor in determining the price water companies can ultimately charge for their services.
If she is successful, anyone who has paid a water bill to one or more of these water companies from April 2020 may be entitled to compensation. The value of the claim against Severn Trent Water is estimated at more than £330m and if successful, the six claims could lead to compensation payments of more than £800m.
Compensation is being sought through competition opt-out collective proceedings, which allow legal claims to be brought by a single class representative on behalf of a group, or groups, of affected individuals in the Competition Appeal Tribunal. Customers do not have to sign up to the case. They will receive compensation if the claims are successful.
The dumping of raw sewage into our waterways is a national scandal and it is about time that water companies were held to account for their complacent actions. It is also pleasing to see that Ofwat and the Environment Agency are investigating water companies for not disclosing the scale of raw sewage discharges and non-compliance with its permits.
What we really need though is investment in the infrastructure to stop these discharges happening again, and that is a matter for the UK and Welsh governments to insist on.
They say that a collective case against six water companies alleges they have failed to properly report sewage spills and pollution of rivers and seas to the Environment Agency and Ofwat, the regulator for England and Wales:
The first of six parallel claims is against Severn Trent Water on behalf of its 8 million customers. Claims against Thames Water, United Utilities, Anglian Water, Yorkshire Water and Northumbrian Water are being brought in the coming months.
The legal claims allege the water companies have breached competition law by failing to report discharges which would have affected the price they can charge to customers.
The number of pollution incidents a company reports, and any breaches to permits attached to water treatment plants to control raw sewage releases, are actors in determining the price water companies can charge for their services. So, the claims allege, underreporting of pollution means water companies could have been overcharging customers.
Prof Carolyn Roberts, an environmental and water consultant represented by the law firm Leigh Day, is bringing the claims at the competition tribunal on behalf of more than 20 million householders who are customers of the water firms. The claims say customers have been overcharged because the companies abused their monopoly positions. They failed to fully report the scale of raw sewage discharges into rivers and seas, and in doing so avoided penalties which would have had an impact on the price they could charge customers, the claim alleges. As a result, Roberts says, customers have been overcharged to the tune of hundreds of millions of pounds.
Roberts, emeritus professor of environment at Gresham College, said she had been researching rivers since the 1970s. “The last two decades have been catastrophic for rivers and I want something done about it,” she said. “The population of the UK has a right to expect that our rivers, lakes and seas will generally be clean, except under exceptional circumstances.
“It appears that because of the serial and serious underreporting at the heart of these claims, water companies have been avoiding being penalised by Ofwat. I believe this has resulted in consumers being unfairly overcharged for sewage services.”
Roberts said millions of customers had been paying their water bills on the basis that water companies were meeting their targets, but instead every year water companies let raw or partly treated sewage into the environment in breach of the rules.
She argues in her legal claim that the water companies have been breaking competition law by misleading the Environment Agency and Ofwat as to the number of pollution incidents they made into rivers, lakes, coastal areas and other waterways, causing damage to the environment. The number of pollution incidents a company reports to the regulators is an important factor in determining the price water companies can ultimately charge for their services.
If she is successful, anyone who has paid a water bill to one or more of these water companies from April 2020 may be entitled to compensation. The value of the claim against Severn Trent Water is estimated at more than £330m and if successful, the six claims could lead to compensation payments of more than £800m.
Compensation is being sought through competition opt-out collective proceedings, which allow legal claims to be brought by a single class representative on behalf of a group, or groups, of affected individuals in the Competition Appeal Tribunal. Customers do not have to sign up to the case. They will receive compensation if the claims are successful.
The dumping of raw sewage into our waterways is a national scandal and it is about time that water companies were held to account for their complacent actions. It is also pleasing to see that Ofwat and the Environment Agency are investigating water companies for not disclosing the scale of raw sewage discharges and non-compliance with its permits.
What we really need though is investment in the infrastructure to stop these discharges happening again, and that is a matter for the UK and Welsh governments to insist on.
