The executives of the water company that breaks the law face toughest punistrys, including possible prison sentences, under new powers that have entered into force in England and Wales.
Chiefs who do not cooperate or obstruct researchers who seek wastewater spills can now be imprisoned for up to two years.
The government said that the threat of harder sentences would act as a “powerful differential.”
At the same time, a highly critical report of the battery of the public surveillance battery for public spending expenses and regulators not managing risk and boosting investment in the water sector, contributing to higher invoices for customers.
The National Audit Office report said the Consumer Trust was in a “historical minimum.”
He pointed to the regulators, the Environment Agency and the Potable Water Inspection, as well as to the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), for not promoting improvements to the system.
Water companies have been criticized in recent years for allowing spills of contempt or more frequent wastewater, contaminating rivers and lakes.
Companies have accused of paying dividends to shareholders and bonds to executives, while they do not invest enough money in the water infrastructure to deal with a growing population and a more extreme climate.
However, they are fraud and the regulators jointly responsible for establishing the framework in which water companies operate.
The government said that new powers were needed to punish executives because in the past water companies had not given delivery about vital evidence related to illegal wastewater disadly.
The regulation had been “weak and without teeth” without responsibility, said Environment Secretary Steve Reed.
“It is shocking that not a single water executive faced a fine, much less a prison sentence, despite the extinction of the law,” he touched the BBC’s program today.
The Body Water UK of the industry said that they were the proper water competitions and that the Strandy focused on offering new investments to obtain supplies and wastewater spills.
Water companies wanted to see “more direction” of the government, a simpler regulation and more diverted decisions to local communities, said a spokesman.
Earlier this week, Water UK told the BBC that it would support a change in the system so that companies were no longer responsible for monitoring their own levels of wastewater pollution.
He said that a new “more robust” third -party monitoring system must be established.
Currently, water companies are responsible for sampling water quality to identify pollution. However, they have incidents of wrong reports, which regulators said it had sometimes been deliberate.
The Government has launched an independent commission to review how the sector is executed and regulated, which is expected to publish its findings in July.
