Simon Jupp described South West Water's environmental performance as "shameful" and condemned its bonuses and shareholder payouts as "grotesque" when he held a debate in Westminster Hall on Tuesday (28 February).

The East Devon MP also criticised the Liberal Democrats for accusing him and other Conservative MPs of "voting to pollute our waters and seas".

It comes after Mr Jupp voted to remove a House of Lords amendment to a bill, now the Environment Act 2021, which would have put a duty on water companies to "take all reasonable steps to ensure untreated sewage is not discharged from storm overflows".

At the time, he claimed the "well-meaning" amendment lacked a proper plan and would have been economically unviable.

One of many protests targeting Tory MPs who voted in the same way as Mr Jupp across the country was held outside his constituency office in Exmouth in January. 

Raw sewage was discharged from storm overflows off Exmouth beach and at the mouth of the River Sid for over 1,000 hours each in 2021, according to Environment Agency data.

L: Sidmouth Town Beach. R: Storm overflow at the Ham, Sidmouth (Nub News/ Will Goddard)

'South West Water needs to invest more in infrastructure'

Simon Jupp MP told Parliament on Tuesday: "In a perfect world, we would stop sewage spills completely and immediately.

"Our sewage systems are old, many of them dating back to Victorian times, and water companies have been relying on storm overflows [emergency valves to prevent sewage backing up] far too often, without adequately addressing the issues behind their continued use.

"South West Water needs to invest more in infrastructure to protect the public from poor water quality, rather than protecting its company bonuses.

"I am proud that this Conservative Government have launched the toughest-ever crackdown on sewage spills.

"Under the Environment Act, water companies are forced to embark on huge investment to update our Victorian sewage infrastructure.

"As I say, we are enforcing that with bigger fines of up to 10 per cent of a company's annual turnover, with the money raised ringfenced to improve water quality."

'Why would any of us vote to put sewage in the sea?'

Mr Jupp continued: "The Liberal Democrats have accused Conservative MPs of voting to pollute our waters and seas. That is frankly ridiculous. Why would any of us vote to put sewage in the sea? I live by the sea in Sidmouth, and I love where I live.

"Those present will know that that has led to colleagues facing threats and abuse in the street and on social media. I was really upset to hear that one hon. Member recently received faeces through their letterbox as a result of this politics.

"That is unacceptable, and any Member here today who repeats those claims should be ashamed of themselves.

"Given South West Water's low environmental performance score, I am sad to say that I struggle to see why bonuses even exist within the company.

"We pay the highest sewerage bills in the country; our money should not be used to reward failure.

"I look forward to hearing colleagues' contributions as we debate the performance of South West Water. For me personally, its performance to date can be summed up in one word: shameful."

South West Water response

A South West Water spokesperson said: "We welcome today's balanced debate. As mentioned in the debate, we have already delivered 80% of our Operational Delivery Indicator (ODI) as part of our business plan.

"We have now installed monitoring on 100% of our storm overflows, enabling us to target our investment and interventions to reduce spill numbers.

"Also mentioned in the debate, we will soon launch WaterFit Live, providing customers and communities with near real time data on the performance of our network at designated bathing beaches – far in advance of the government-mandated 2025 deadline.

"We are proud to say that 1 in 14 households across the South West are now shareholders thanks to our pioneering WaterShare+ scheme.

"We are investing further and faster than ever before to deliver major improvements in the region's water resources and wastewater infrastructure for the future. We will continue to work closely and liaise with our regulators, Defra and the MPs in our region, whilst engaging with our customers and communities."