Tom Gordon, Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, has said Yorkshire Water's downgrade to a one-star rating by the Environment Agency is "no surprise". He blamed years of Conservative failure and accused the Labour government of letting the company off lightly.
The Environment Agency's annual Environmental Performance Assessment rates England's nine water and sewerage companies on how often they pollute rivers, streams and the sea. Yorkshire Water has dropped from two stars to one, the lowest rating available. Its pollution incidents rose by 72% in 12 months, from 151 to 260.
Over the same period, chief executive Nicola Shaw's pay package rose to £732,000, and she received a further £660,000 from the firm's offshore parent company, Kelda Holdings.
Tom said:
"Nobody in Harrogate and Knaresborough is surprised. Just last week I met Surfers Against Sewage to talk about pollution in the Nidd. We have the same conversation every time, because nothing changes.
"The Conservatives broke this industry. For fourteen years they let water companies load up on debt, pay-out to shareholders and pump sewage into our rivers, while they cut the Environment Agency's budget and voted against tougher limits on sewage dumping. They left behind a regulator with no teeth and an industry with no shame.
"Labour promised to clean up this mess, but more than two years on, the bosses who presided over this are still being paid handsomely. Ministers brought in a bonus ban and then stood by while payments are routed through offshore companies. That's not tough regulation. It's a loophole you could drive a tanker through.
"Residents are watching their bills climb while sewage flows into our rivers. It's a slap in the face to every household in Yorkshire.
"Labour needs to stop tinkering and act. That means scrapping Ofwat now, not years down the line, turning water companies into public benefit companies that put the environment before shareholders, and making sure no boss of a one-star company takes home a penny more."
