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07
Aug 2024
Harrogate and Knaresborough MP says £47 million fine is ‘proof Yorkshire Water is broken’
Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Tom Gordon, has said a proposed £47 million fine levied on Yorkshire Water is "proof the water industry in its current form is utterly broken".
Water regulator Ofwat is consulting on fines totalling £168 million for Thames Water, Yorkshire Water and Northumbrian Water over historic sewage spills.
It said the companies failed to manage wastewater treatment works adequately and discharged untreated sewage into rivers.
The news came a day after the Stray Ferret reported calls for Yorkshire Water chief executive Nicola Shaw to refuse her £371,000 annual bonus.
It also follows Environment Agency tests at Knaresborough Lido on the River Nidd revealing levels of the faecal bacteria E. coli to be up to 10 times higher than satisfactory.
Tom Gordon with Nidd Action Group chairman David Clayden.
Liberal Democrat Mr Gordon, who met Nidd Action Group chairman David Clayden this week to discuss water quality, said Yorkshire Water was "failing to fulfil its obligations to its customers and our environment".
He added:
This is proof that Yorkshire Water is broken. Now we need more and further action from the government. The previous Conservative government did not take the action against water companies such as Yorkshire Water that is so desperately needed.
Whilst the £47 million fine is symbolic, its imposition shows many of the flaws in our system. Ofwat should not be approving plans allowing water companies to hike bills on consumers whilst Yorkshire Water and others continue to fail to deliver. We need to see an end to bonuses and shareholder payouts.
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