Thoughts on the Westminster Forum water pollution event

I was delighted to be a panellist at yesterday's Westminster Energy, Environment and Transport Forum on “Next Steps for Tackling Water Pollution”.

As the enforcement of regulations relating to water pollution is a key part of improving our water, I outlined my thoughts on the introduction of Variable Monetary Penalties (VMPs) which are due to be in force form 1 December this year.  I have discussed some of my views on these previously here.  The Environment Agency is in the process of consulting on the amendments it needs to make to its Enforcement and Sanctions Policy in relation to the changes being made (see here). There remain many questions about how VMPS will be used in practice and will fit within the existing enforcement regime.  Nevertheless, it is clear that those who are likely to be affected by the changes will need to consider how they will prepare themselves to respond if the Environment Agency serves a Notice of Intention to issue a VMP.

The whole session was very interesting and informative and it was refreshing to have so many contributions looking at positive ways to tackle pollution issues.  I took away a number of points, the key ones being as follows:

1. There has been good progress on water pollution issues over the last few years but it is clearly not enough;
2. Despite the noise around the subject, tackling water pollution is clearly not just about the water industry.  It is critical to tackle the contributions to pollution from other sources, such as agriculture and run-off from highways;
3. The automatic right to connect into sewers needs to be looked at again and water companies should be statutory consultees on planning applications.  Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (who chaired the first session) said that Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 dealing with a requirement for sustainable drainage on new developments (which is in force in Wales) should be brought into force in England. Developers need to be brought into the conversation on pollution;
4. There has to be more innovation to tackle the problem.  This is going to be difficult with so many leaving the sector  - it was stated that there are currently 63,000 vacancies.; 
5. Data is going to be key.  Smart meters are being rolled out to help with demand management.  However, more could be done by, for example, using sensors in sewage pipes to make the system more efficient.  Helen Wakeham of the Environment Agency noted that the Agency was developing a team of water specialists to focus on the water sector - analysing data would be a key part of their skill-set;
6. Ultimately, to achieve clean and plentiful water is going to be a collective effort.  Consumers will need to play their part in that as well as government, regulators, water companies, the agricultural sector, developers and highway authorities. 

Overall, it is clear that there is a lot to do in this space.  The Plan for Water was generally considered to be a good start but we will need to go further and faster.