I’m pleased to hear the Government has today laid legislation before Parliament to strengthen environmental civil sanctions and provide the environmental regulators with the tools they need to hold operators to account.
Currently, the maximum variable monetary penalty that can be imposed for a wide range of environmental offences is capped at £250,000.
As we have seen, this is not an effective deterrent for very large operators, such as water companies, as it may be cheaper for them to pay the penalty, or several penalties, than to solve the underlying issue.
The Government, therefore, is removing the cap entirely to make the penalty unlimited, meaning that penalties can be proportionate to the degree of environmental harm and culpability and can act as a powerful deterrent. Strong safeguards are in place, including the ability of an offender to pay, when regulators determine the size of penalties. The Environment Agency will use the independent Sentencing Council guidelines to underpin all penalties.
Ministers are also introducing unlimited variable monetary penalties as a civil sanction for offences under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, so in future the Environment Agency has all the tools it needs to change the behaviour of organisations who break the law.
I know that people across Mid Sussex want to see more progress in tackling pollution and if operators breach regulations, our environmental regulators need the right powers to impose penalties. These new penalty changes will deter organisations from polluting and increase their incentive to comply with environmental regulations. We will not let companies get away with illegal activity and where breaches are found, we will hold companies to account. Furthermore, all funding from fines and penalties handed out to water companies that pollute our rivers and seas will be invested in schemes that benefit our natural environment.