Lib Dems call for compensation for swimmers “poisoned by sewage”

Swimmers who fall sick after being in dirty water should be compensated. 

That was one of four Liberal Democrat policies championed by Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville, who last week led a Motion to Take Note debate in the Lords on pollution in rivers and the regulation of private water companies.

Baroness Bakewell argued: “It is not right that, as water companies make large profits, swimmers get sick. If someone is poisoned by sewage, they should be compensated for it.

“A recent report by Surfers Against Sewage found that the number of people who fell ill after entering water between October 2022 and September 2023 was 1,924. This is three times the number reported in the previous year.”  

The other three Lib Dem measures championed by Baroness Bakewell were: 

• Water companies should be transformed into public benefit companies.

• Ofwat should be abolished and “replaced by a new regulator which has effective powers to intervene”. 

• A sewage tax should be introduced to fund the clean-up of the most polluted lakes, rivers and coastlines.

She added that re-nationalisation “will not be effective and would make no difference to the issue. Scottish Water is publicly owned, and we simply do not know how many illegal sewage overflows are taking place.”

The debate was dominated by Lib Dem peers. However, among others who spoke was the cross bench Duke of Wellington, who argued: “We must review the structure of regulation. I realise that this would be complex and that the transition could be disruptive. As the minister [Defra’s Lord Douglas-Miller] and all the party spokesmen are here participating in this debate, I ask them to discuss with their respective colleagues whether all parties should include in their manifestos at the next election a commitment to an independent review of the structure of the regulation of the water industry.

"Such a review might well conclude, as I have, that it is necessary to have a single regulator, rather than the continuing splitting of responsibilities between the Water Services Regulation Authority – Ofwat – and the Environment Agency."