Responding to Liz Truss’s resignation as Prime Minister, Liberal Democrat candidate for Stone, Alec Sandiford said:
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by alecsandiford on 18 April, 2022
| Ban water company bosses’ bonuses until sewage discharges end |
| Water company bosses were awarded £27m in bonuses while pumping raw sewage into England’s waterways over 1,000 times a dayLib Dems demand a “sewage bonus ban” to ban future bonuses until sewage dumps stopEngland’s water company bosses have awarded themselves almost £27 million in bonuses over the past two years despite pumping out raw sewage into waterways 1,000 times a day, the Liberal Democrats have revealed. Analysis of Companies House records by the Liberal Democrats shows that executives at England’s water and sewage companies were paid £48 million in 2020 and 2021, including £27.6 million in bonuses, benefits and incentives. The eye-watering executive pay packets and company profits were made despite the Environment Agency reporting nearly 772,000 sewage dumping events taking place in 2020 and 2021 alone, or over 1,000 per day. The Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to ban new bonuses for water company executives until sewage offences are brought to an end. The party is also calling on water company bosses to hand back last year’s bonuses and for the funds to be used to clean up rivers and lakes that have been polluted by sewage. United Utilities, who were responsible for the most spills over 2020 and 2021, paid bonuses of nearly £6 million. Severn Trent awarded their execs £5.5 million in bonuses while dumping sewage 120,000 times. Meanwhile, Yorkshire Water, who dumped sewage 135,000 times, handed out bonuses of £3.3 million. The Liberal Democrats have previously called for a Sewage Tax on the profits of water companies, to fund the cleaning up of waterways polluted by sewage. Analysis by the party suggests water companies made a staggering £2.7 billion in operating profits in 2020/21. Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesperson for Stone, Alec Sandiford said: “The Conservatives are allowing water companies to pump raw sewage into our precious rivers and lakes while awarding themselves obscene bonuses. Just like the millions paid out to bankers during the financial crisis, the public will find this hard to stomach. “Liberal Democrat plans for a sewage bonus ban would stop water company execs being paid a penny in bonuses more until our waterways are protected from sewage dumps. These bosses should be made to hand back the millions of pounds already received in bonuses to help clean up their mess. “It’s time to send a message to the Conservatives that they cannot let water company bosses get away with pumping raw sewage into our rivers and beaches any longer.” ENDS Notes to Editors Story first reported by the BBC here. Liberal Democrat analysis of Companies House records reveals how much each water company paid out in executive remunerations in 2020/2021. Executive remuneration includes base pay and bonuses for senior level executives in each water company as listed on Companies House records. Water Company Executive Remuneration Total – 2020 & 2021CompanyBase PayBonuses, Benefits and IncentivesPensionTotal Exec Remuneration per CompanyAnglian Water£1,668,887£3,588,182£211,892£5,468,961Northumbrian Water£1,465,000£575,000£174,000£2,214,000Severn Trent Water£2,337,100£5,566,500£528,400£8,432,000Southern Water£1,460,500£1,719,500£245,200£3,425,200South West Water£1,129,000£2,804,000£259,000£4,192,000Thames Water£2,332,000£2,368,000£262,000£4,962,000United Utilities£2,405,000£5,990,000£516,000£8,911,000Wessex Water£1,672,000£775,000£194,000£2,641,000Yorkshire£1,682,000£3,298,000£304,000£5,284,000Dwr Cymru / Welsh Water£1,268,000£931,000£433,000£2,632,000Total£17,419,487£27,615,182£3,127,492£48,162,161 Companies house data on operating profits of water companies 2020/2021 Water CompanyAreaName of company – Companies HouseRevenue (£m)Operating Profit (£m)Anglian WaterEastAnglian Water Services Limited1,351.8391.6Northumbrian WaterNorth EastNorthumbrian Water Limited758.4195.0Severn Trent WaterWest & East Mids, ChesterSevern Trent Water Limited1,699.5457.9Southern WaterSouth EastSouthern Water Services Ltd819.8138.8South West WaterSouth WestSouth West Water Limited543.8198.3Thames WaterGreater London, Thames ValleyThames Water Utilities Limited2,106.7488.8United UtilitiesNorth WestUnited Utilities Plc1,808.0602.1Wessex WaterSouth WestWessex Water Services Ltd516.9160.4Yorkshire WaterYorkshire and HumberYorkshire Water Services Ltd1,101.1241.4 Total10,706.02,874.3 N.B. Dwr Cymru / Welsh Water is a not-for-profit company and therefore not included in this analysis Data on sewage discharges from the Environment Agency Water Company Sewage Discharges 2020 & 2021Company20202021TotalAnglian Water17,38521,35138,736Northumbrian Water32,56636,48369,049Severn Trent Water60,98259,684120,666Southern Water19,78219,07738,859South West Water42,05342,48484,537Thames Water18,44314,71333,156United Utilities113,94081,588195,528Wessex Water28,96423,52452,488Yorkshire65,08370,062135,145Dwr Cymru / Welsh Water3,8453,5677,412Total for all companies403,043368,966772,009N.B Figures for Dwr Cymru are for discharges into English rivers only |
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