Labour unveils a Bill detailing its plan for sewage pollution

Shadow environment secretary, Jim McMahon, introduced the Water Quality (Sewage Discharge) Bill to Parliament on 22 March, World Water Day, for its First Reading.

The Bill seeks to “make provision about the monitoring of water quality; to set a target for the reduction of sewage discharges; to provide for financial penalties in relation to sewage discharges and breaches of monitoring requirements; to require the secretary of state to publish a strategy for the reduction of sewage discharges from storm overflows, including an economic impact assessment; and for connected purposes”.

The Bill will be read for a second time on 21 April.

Badged a core part of Labour’s plan to “clean up the Tory sewage scandal,” according to promotional material, the party is pursuing “automatic fines [based on monitoring data] and mandatory reporting; tough sanctions for failing water bosses; and ending systemic discharges by 2030”.

In an interview with the i newspaper, McMahon did not rule out combining environmental and economic regulators in future.