Time for Yorkshire Water to take action on environmental performance, says Shipley MP

Anna Dixon MP for Shipley, has today said that it is time for the bosses of Yorkshire Water to “show, not tell” how they will deliver a better environmental performance after its CEO admitted in Parliament that the company “needs to improve”.

The Member of Parliament's comments come after Yorkshire Water chief executive Nicola Shaw said at a Parliamentary committee session that the Environment Agency’s downgrading of Yorkshire Water from three stars to two was “not the performance we want".

Last year, the regulator also rated Yorkshire Water as red for pollution incidents. The CEO acknowledged this during the recent session with MPs, stating, “I do not disagree with them.”

Anna Dixon, who has prioritized ending sewage dumping in the River Aire and the River Wharfe since her election as MP for Shipley last July, said today: “The level of pollution that has been allowed to be discharged into our rivers in recent years is simply disgraceful. In 2023 alone, raw sewage was dumped into the rivers of the Shipley constituency 1,753 times.”

“I am pleased to hear the bosses of Yorkshire Water acknowledge this and discuss the investment that has been put into improving local water infrastructure, but we’ve heard this all before. It is time for Yorkshire Water to show, not tell us, that their performance is improving.

“The last Conservative government is also responsible for this situation, having cut the Environment Agency's budget in half. It is the strong action of the new Labour government that has begun the process of fixing it.

“Nicola Shaw received a bonus of over £300,000 last year, and I strongly urged her to return it, given the issues with Yorkshire Water's performance, which she has acknowledged. Just this week, the government enacted new legislation to prevent bonuses from being awarded to the bosses of water companies that pollute our rivers, lakes, and seas.

“We now have a government that takes keeping our rivers free from pollution seriously and I believe it is time for the bosses of Yorkshire Water to demonstrate that they share that commitment.”