LIBERAL Democrat Parliamentary candidate Gideon Amos has slammed the “salaries and perks” paid to Wessex Water's top executives despite the “disgusting raw sewage pumped into the Tone”.
Mr Amos claimed Wessex Water paid its five top executives £401,000 in bonuses in 2022-23 on top of salaries ranging from £153,000 to £318,000 per year for individual top directors.
Mr Amos said: “With disgusting raw sewage pumped into the Tone and its catchment over 200 times in the recent year, the bonuses and handouts the water firms are giving themselves are frankly insulting.
“The whole thing stinks. These salaries and perks have reached eye-watering levels, yet Conservative Ministers - one of them the party’s MP for Taunton Deane - refuse to act.
“It is time to rip up Wessex Water, so it no longer puts profit before the environment.
“The firm is clearly not working how it should and is not listening to local concerns on sewage discharges.
“I was actually surprised and shocked that there was literally no mention of sewage in the King’s Speech.
“This country’s water industry has become a gravy train where the flow of sewage and money has become one and the same thing.
“This profiteering on the back of polluting our rivers is a scandal and it’s a scandal on this government’s watch. It is unbelievable that Government Ministers haven’t brought it to an end already.
“When will they finally get tough on these polluting and profiteering firms?
“Bonuses and perks need to be totally banned as long as there is sewage being discharged into our streams and rivers here in Taunton and Wellington. Bonuses should be a reward for success, not for committing environmental crimes.”
The Somerset County Gazette understands Wessex Water executive bonuses are made up of various elements reflecting company performance (customer service, help with bills, drinking water quality, and more).
Wessex Water rejected Mr Amos’ claims in regard to the “raw sewage” and “environmental crimes” saying “Mr Amos is referring to storm overflows, which are licensed by the Environment Agency and operate automatically to protect properties from flooding and discharge mostly rainwater during/after storms”.
The company added “none of our directors received any bonus relating to environmental performance in 2022-23” and that “although storm overflows are licensed by the Environment Agency to protect properties from flooding, we’re committed to reducing how often they operate and are currently investing more than £3 million every month on schemes to improve them.”
A Wessex Water spokesperson said: “Wessex Water executive bonuses are made up of various elements reflecting company performance.
“As a consequence of last year’s environmental results, no director received this part of the bonus.
“We are a leading performer in all other areas of our business and are determined to restore our environmental performance.
“Although storm overflows are licensed by the Environment Agency to protect properties from flooding, we’re committed to reducing how often they operate and are currently investing more than £3 million every month on schemes to improve them.”
Replying to the Lib Dem's claims, Taunton Deane MP Rebecca Pow said: “These claims are complete rubbish – discharges that were unlawful prior to the Environment Act still are today.
“This government is the first to take such comprehensive action on sewage spills by increasing monitoring from 7 per cent in 2010 to 91 per cent now, tripling funding for Ofwat’s enforcement and putting in place strict targets for water companies to reduce storm overflows.
“That includes driving the largest infrastructure programme in water company history of £60 billion over 25 years.
“Through our Plan for Water we are delivering more investment, stronger regulation and tougher enforcement.
“We have given Ofwat new powers to toughen up rules on dividends and we welcome their action to crack down on excessive bonuses which cannot be paid if any harm to the environment is demonstrated.
“The Liberal Democrats have no costed plan for Water. Their idea of a sewage tax would take hundreds of years to accumulate the funds required to sort out storm sewage overflows and we already have a plan in operation.
“They need to understand the game-changing programme that is already underway under this Government.”
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