#environment-agency

#environment-agency

Fining English water companies for spilling raw sewage will soon become quicker and easier, the government has said. New proposals would see automatic fines of up to 20,000 issued for some minor offences and make it simpler to punish more serious ones. In recent years data from the water industry's own monitoring equipment has shown how frequently rules are broken around sewage spills. But the regulator, the Environment Agency, has by its own admission struggled to act.

Ministers have told officials at the Environment Agency to wave through planning applications with minimal resistance, as part of a major regulatory shakeup designed to increase economic growth and plug the government's financial hole. Officials at the agency say they have been told to do as little as legally possible to prevent housing applications from being approved, with the government also drafting in senior advisers from the housing department to speed up the process.

Emails from the Environment Agency reveal the agency's concerns over water companies' lax attitudes towards sludge fertiliser, likening it to fly-tipping on agricultural land.