Two texts to draw on

Motion submitted by Islington South CLP to London Labour conference 18-19 July 2026

We note:
 Across the UK, rivers and natural waterways are a vital resource, essential for ecological diversity and leisure.
 Record levels of illegal sewage dumping in our rivers, lakes and seas inherited by the Labour government after 14 years of Tory failure.
 That despite this, only three people in the water sector have ever been prosecuted for environmental related crimes since privatization.
 The Conservatives failed to invest in broken infrastructure and let consumer money be spent irresponsibly on bonuses and shareholder payouts.
 The Conservatives also cut the Environment Agency (EA) budget by half since 2010, enabled by the Lib Dems while in coalition – leaving the EA powerless to crack down on polluting water companies.
 The Reform party manifesto did not mention sewage or the position of water companies.
 It is only with a Labour government in Westminster, that action on illegal sewage can be delivered.
We welcome the record £104m fine issued to Thames Water for environmental breaches and the new Water (Special Measures) Act 2025.
We believe the record shows that privatisation of water cannot provide for adequate investment and public service.
We call for the London Labour Party to campaign for public ownership and democratic control of Thames Water.

The first part of the draft is taken straight from the composite at 2025 Labour conference; the last two sentences sharpen the conclusion.

---

Motion passed by North West region Labour conference 2024

Conference notes that:
• In 2022 United Utilities discharged raw sewage into NW waters 69,245 times over a period of more than 425,000 hours. This was the highest number for any region of the UK. These figures are only for those sewage outlets that are monitored; not all are.
• Prior to privatisation, sewage treatment, sewerage and water supply and distribution in the north-west were for nine decades provided under local democratic management, through local authorities and latterly local authority representation on the North West Water Authority.
• These services, now in private monopoly ownership, paid out £37bn in dividend payments even just since 2010, including £4.8bn in 2017 alone.
• The Water Quality (Sewage Discharge) private member’s bill and Labour’s National Policy Forum both set out clear and rapidly achievable measures to reduce the worst excesses of sewage discharge into our waters.
• The announcement on August 29 2023 of the Tory government’s intention to scrap the housebuilder water pollution rules in England has since further threatened water quality.
• United Utilities was prosecuted on August 16th 2023 for illegally abstracting 22 billion litres of water from boreholes in the NW.
• Poll findings released on July 31st show that sewage released into in Britain’s waters is having a significant effect on recreational swimming for people of all ages.
• That the impact of global warming on the climate of the NW is such that the flooding events associated with sewage discharge are likely to continue to be increasingly common and severe. Investment is needed in the NW water infrastructure.
Conference believes:
• Where utility companies fail, they should be returned to public ownership, without compensation, with local democratic control
Conference calls for:
• The REC to campaign and press for the measures to address water quality in the NW outlined the Water Quality (Sewage Discharge) private member’s bill including monitoring of water quality, targets for the reduction of sewage discharges, mandatory monitoring of sewage outlets across the whole of the NW,
• automatic fines for sewage discharges, and a penalty for outlets that do not have monitoring in place.
• The next Labour government to return sewage treatment, sewerage and water supply and distribution in the north-west to public ownership with local/regional democratic control and without compensation.