The environment secretary has caused a backlash among groups demanding an end to the pollution of rivers by water companies after a direct appeal ahead of a demonstration backfired. The intervention by Steve Reed, who wrote to activists saying they could trust him with forging change within the water industry, was met with anger by campaigners who said he was avoiding the key issue – that water privatisation has failed.
In his letter to members from the 130 groups taking part in the March for Clean Water on Sunday, who include Surfers Against Sewage, the GMB union, the Wildlife Trusts and the RSPB, Reed said he shared their anger about record levels of sewage pollution. He wished them a well-attended march and said he looked forward to working with them towards a shared ambition of cleaning up rivers, lakes and seas for good.
But since Labour took power, Reed has ruled out what many who will take to the streets are calling for: the return of the water industry to some kind of public ownership. In making the decision to rule out public ownership, using existing powers available to him under the special administration regime, he was accused of relying on flawed analysis paid for by water companies.
In the letter, distributed by the march organisers River Action, Reed said the independent commission he set up, along with the water (special measures) bill going through parliament, would start the change needed in the sector.
Some campaigners criticised Reed’s attempt to claim allegiance, saying he had failed to address deep-rooted problems in the privatised water industry in England, where ownership has become concentrated in a web of private equity, foreign investment and pension funds.
Becky Malby, of Ilkley Clean River Group, said Reed should use his existing powers to take failing water companies into special administration. She said the public would not tolerate paying increasingly large bills to companies that remained under criminal investigation by the Environment Agency for suspected illegal sewage dumping and the financial regulator Ofwat.
Ash Smith, of Windrush against Sewage pollution, who is scheduled to speak on Sunday, said attempts to win over the marchers would not wash. “Steve Reed is trying to own the march by supporting clean water,” said Smith. “But there is massive public support to end the scandal that privatisation has brought. His refusal to face the facts and to rely on water company-funded fiction about costs is setting captive bill payers up to bail out private equity and keep the unforgivable exploitation going on for another five years.”
River Action said it had concerns about Reed’s repeated references to the need to promote economic growth within the sector. “Our polluted water bodies do not need economic growth,” a spokesperson said. “They need effective and uncompromising environmental protection and regulation. As we can see with recent developments at Thames Water, the financial model of the water industry is unravelling fast and in some cases broken beyond repair.”
Matt Staniek, of Save Windermere, said Reed’s intervention was a weak attempt to pacify public anger. “The government is clearly failing to enforce existing laws and continues to allow private equity to profit at the expense of bill payers and the environment,” he said. “They are proposing measures that fail to address the core issue – that privatisation has failed.”
A Defra spokesperson said: “We share the public’s concern about the health of our waterways, and it is encouraging to see so many people actively engaged in this important cause. This government is committed to cleaning up our rivers, lakes and seas and has wasted no time in acting.”
The spokesperson added that the new bill would hold companies to account and ensure they met the high standards the public rightfully expected. “This includes strengthening regulation to ensure water bosses face personal criminal liability for lawbreaking, and giving the water regulator new powers to ban the payment of bonuses if environmental standards are not met,” they said.
