Agenda item

10.1

It was formally moved by Councillor Alison Norris, and formally seconded by Councillor Ruth Milsom, that this Council:-

(a)      notes that:-

(i)       under this Government, water companies have polluted waters and coastal waters across the country with filthy raw sewage;

(ii)       people are appalled by disgusting sewage discharges into our rivers and coastal waters;

(iii)      this Government has slashed the monitoring of water pollution, enforcement actions and prosecutions;

(iv)      in Parliament, Conservative MPs have consistently failed to support tougher measures to stop the sewage scandal;

(v)      in 2022, there were 1335 spills counted in Penistone and Stocksbridge constituency lasting for 7,161 hours; and the local Conservative MP, Miriam Cates, has voted against ending the sewage scandal; and

(vi)      sewage and pollution in our rivers and coastal waters harm wildlife, hurt the visitor economy and can cause illness;

(b)      believes that:-

(i)       the people of Sheffield are proud of our rivers and deserve high quality water standards;

(ii)       people using and enjoying our rivers and waterways – wild swimmers, anglers, walkers, kayakers – should not have to put up with sewage and pollution in our waters;

(iii)      volunteer ‘river ranger’ groups in Sheffield that monitor the health of our rivers do amazing work and deserve our praise and thanks;

(iv)      it is a sad state of affairs that citizens have felt compelled to take action themselves to monitor sewage and pollution in our water due to government inaction;

(v)      high profile campaigners like Feargal Sharkey and Paul Whitehouse have done excellent work to raise awareness about sewage in our rivers;

(vi)      we need mandatory monitoring of sewage outlets; automatic fines for sewage discharges, with tough penalties for water companies whose outlets do not have monitoring in place, and ambitious targets to cut illegal discharges through sewage outflows and clean up our rivers, streams, and seas once and for all; and

(vii)     Ofwat, the regulator, should be given the powers to ban the payment of bonuses to water bosses who are found to pump significant levels of raw sewage into our precious rivers, lakes and seas; and

(c)      resolves to ask the Government to:-

(i)       clean up our rivers and end the sewage scandal;

(ii)       make polluters pay and to work with the Environment Agency and our other partners to identify, monitor and report pollution; and

(iii)      hold Yorkshire Water to account to ensure they are investing in our water infrastructure and improving water quality.

10.2

Whereupon, it was formally moved by Councillor Mike Levery, and formally seconded by Councillor Richard Williams, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by:-

1.       the substitution, in sub-paragraph (a)(i), of the words “since 2015” for the words “under this Government”;

2.       the insertion, also in sub-paragraph (a)(i), of the word “increasingly” following the words “water companies have”;

3.       the addition of a new paragraph (a)(iv) as follows, and the re-lettering of the original sub-paragraphs (a)(iv) to (vi) as new sub-paragraphs (a)(v) to (vii):-

(a)(iv)in particular, staff at the Environment Agency dedicated to responding to pollution incidents have seen their numbers decline by 15% since 2015;

4.       the addition of a new sub-paragraph (a)(viii) as follows:-

(a)(viii) Welsh Water, a public benefit company, was recently criticised for illegal discharge of untreated sewage from sewage treatment works over several years;

5.       the deletion of sub-paragraphs (b)(vi) and (vii), and the addition of new sub-paragraphs (b)(vi) to (ix) as follows:-

(b)(vi)all discharges of raw sewage from sewage treatment works should result in significant fines and the fines reinvested in improvements, as was the case before 2015;

(vii)     retention tanks should be constructed at all sensitive storm overflow sites;

(viii)    water should be provided through public benefit companies, but as seen in the case of Welsh Water, tougher regulation is required even for these companies; and

(ix)      Ofwat has consistently failed to regulate water companies properly since 2015, labelling three companies “top performers” even though they are responsible for more than 2.6m hours of sewage dumps in the last two years, and therefore believes that Ofwat should be abolished and replaced with a tough new UK wide regulator;

6.       the addition of new sub-paragraphs (c)(iv) to (vi) as follows:-

(c)(iv)  ban water company executive bonuses until sewage discharges and serious leaks end;

(v)      abolish Ofwat and replace it with a tough new UK wide regulator with new powers to prevent sewage dumping; and

(vi)      begin work to transform water companies into public benefit companies.

10.3

It was then formally moved by Councillor Marieanne Elliot, and formally seconded by Councillor Alexi Dimond, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by:-

1.       the addition of a new sub-paragraph (a)(vii) as follows:-

(a)(vii)as reported by The Guardian newspaper, £57bn has been handed out in payouts to shareholders over the last 30 years;

2.       the addition of a new sub-paragraph (b)(iv) as follows, and the re-lettering of original sub-paragraphs (b)(iv) to (vii) as new sub-paragraphs (b)(v) to (viii):-

(iv)      thousands of voluntary River Rangers, Citizen Scientists and active swimmers, kayakers, anglers and walkers, armed with the invaluable data supplied by the Rivers Trust and other researchers, are contributing to monitoring water quality;

3.       the addition of new sub-paragraphs (b)(ix) to (xi) as follows:-

(ix)      a rising tide of sewage discharges, such as the discharges in Sheffield by the Lady's Bridge into the River Don, threaten projects to support reintroducing salmon and trout to our rivers;

(x)      water privatisation has been a failed experiment, and that a service as vital as water and sewerage needs to be run by the public and for the public good; and

(xi)      shareholder payouts and CEO bonuses need to be halted with immediate effect where water quality is substandard;

4.       the deletion of sub-paragraph (c)(ii) and the addition of a new sub-paragraph (c)(ii) as follows:-

(c)(ii)   make polluters pay by committing to resourcing the Environment Agency to effectively monitor and guide the water industry and agriculture, including a restoration of staff resources and a much more aggressive and focussed approach to enforcement and prosecution, working closely with voluntary organisations;

5.       the addition of a new sub-paragraph (c)(iv) as follows:-

(c)(iv)  bring water back into public ownership as soon as practicable to stop sewage discharges and cut bills;

6.       the addition of a new paragraph (d) as follows:-

(d)      resolves to pro-actively consider every opportunity to implement nature based solutions in Sheffield that reduce the amount of rain in the sewage system to reduce flood and pollution risk, creating more vegetated green land, wetlands, Sustainable urban Drainage Schemes (SuDS) and rain gardens on council land and buildings.

10.4

The amendment moved by Councillor Mike Levery was put to the vote and was carried, but in part.  Parts 2, 3, 4, sub-paragraphs (vi) and (vii) of Part 5 and sub-paragraph (iv) of Part 6 of the amendment were carried, and Parts 1, sub-paragraphs (viii) and (ix) of Part 5 and sub-paragraphs (v) and (vi) of Part 6 of the amendment were lost.

10.4.1

(NOTE: The result of the vote was FOR - 54 Members; AGAINST - 11 Members; ABSTENTIONS – 1 Member.  Although Labour Group Members voted for, they voted against Parts 1, sub-paragraphs (viii) and (ix) in Part 5 and sub-paragraphs (v) and (vi) in Part 6 of the amendment. Although Sheffield Community Councillors Group Members voted for, they voted against Part 1 of the amendment. Although Councillor Lewis Chinchen voted against, he voted for Part 4 of the amendment and abstained from voting on sub-paragraph (vii) in Part 5 of the amendment.)

10.5

The amendment moved by Councillor Marieanne Elliot was then put to the vote andwas carried, but in part. Parts 1, 2, sub-paragraphs (ix) and (xi) in Part 3, 4 and 6 of the amendment were carried, and Part 5 and sub-paragraph (x) in Part 3 of the amendment were lost.

10.5.1

(NOTE: The result of the vote was FOR - 64 Members; AGAINST - 1 Member; ABSTENTIONS – 0 Members.  Although Labour Group Members voted for, they voted against Part 5 and sub-paragraph (x) in Part 3 of the amendment. Although Liberal Democrat Group Members voted for, they voted against Part 5 of the amendment and abstained from voting on sub-paragraph (x) in Part 3 of the amendment. Although Councillor Lewis Chinchen voted against, he voted for Parts 2 and 6 of the amendment.)

10.6

The original Motion, as amended, was then put as a Substantive Motion in the following form and carried:-

RESOLVED:  That this Council:-

(a)      notes that:-

(i)       under this Government, water companies have increasingly polluted waters and coastal waters across the country with filthy raw sewage;

(ii)       people are appalled by disgusting sewage discharges into our rivers and coastal waters;

(iii)      this Government has slashed the monitoring of water pollution, enforcement actions and prosecutions;

(iv)      in particular, staff at the Environment Agency dedicated to responding to pollution incidents have seen their numbers decline by 15% since 2015;

(v)      in Parliament, Conservative MPs have consistently failed to support tougher measures to stop the sewage scandal;

(vi)      in 2022, there were 1335 spills counted in Penistone and Stocksbridge constituency lasting for 7,161 hours; and the local Conservative MP, Miriam Cates, has voted against ending the sewage scandal;

(vii)     sewage and pollution in our rivers and coastal waters harm wildlife, hurt the visitor economy and can cause illness;

(viii)    Welsh Water, a public benefit company, was recently criticised for illegal discharge of untreated sewage from sewage treatment works over several years; and

(ix)      as reported by The Guardian newspaper, £57bn has been handed out in payouts to shareholders over the last 30 years;

(b)      believes that:-

(i)       the people of Sheffield are proud of our rivers and deserve high quality water standards;

(ii)       people using and enjoying our rivers and waterways – wild swimmers, anglers, walkers, kayakers – should not have to put up with sewage and pollution in our waters;

(iii)      volunteer ‘river ranger’ groups in Sheffield that monitor the health of our rivers do amazing work and deserve our praise and thanks;

(iv)      thousands of voluntary River Rangers, Citizen Scientists and active swimmers, kayakers, anglers and walkers, armed with the invaluable data supplied by the Rivers Trust and other researchers, are contributing to monitoring water quality;

(v)      it is a sad state of affairs that citizens have felt compelled to take action themselves to monitor sewage and pollution in our water due to government inaction;

(vi)      high profile campaigners like Feargal Sharkey and Paul Whitehouse have done excellent work to raise awareness about sewage in our rivers;

(vii)     all discharges of raw sewage from sewage treatment works should result in significant fines and the fines reinvested in improvements, as was the case before 2015;

(viii)    retention tanks should be constructed at all sensitive storm overflow sites;

(ix)      a rising tide of sewage discharges, such as the discharges in Sheffield by the Lady's Bridge into the River Don, threaten projects to support reintroducing salmon and trout to our rivers; and

(x)      shareholder payouts and CEO bonuses need to be halted with immediate effect where water quality is substandard;

(c)      resolves to ask the Government to:-

(i)       clean up our rivers and end the sewage scandal;

(ii)       make polluters pay by committing to resourcing the Environment Agency to effectively monitor and guide the water industry and agriculture, including a restoration of staff resources and a much more aggressive and focussed approach to enforcement and prosecution, working closely with voluntary organisations;

(iii)      hold Yorkshire Water to account to ensure they are investing in our water infrastructure and improving water quality; and

(iv)      ban water company executive bonuses until sewage discharges and serious leaks end; and

(d)      resolves to pro-actively consider every opportunity to implement nature based solutions in Sheffield that reduce the amount of rain in the sewage system to reduce flood and pollution risk, creating more vegetated green land, wetlands, Sustainable urban Drainage Schemes (SuDS) and rain gardens on council land and buildings.

10.6.1

(NOTE: The result of the vote was FOR - 65 Members; AGAINST - 1 Member; ABSTENTIONS – 0 Members. Although Councillor Lewis Chinchen voted against, he voted for sub-paragraphs (a)(vii) and (viii), (b)(i) to (iv), (c)(iii) and (d) and abstained from voting on sub-paragraph (b)(viii) of the Substantive Motion.)