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00:03I'm not sure if I'm gonna go in.
00:05Really? Yeah.
00:07It'd be fine. It'd be cold.
00:09Drowning.
00:13Or maybe you try it for a bit.
00:15I'll go first.
00:18Looking good.
00:19Looking rough.
00:21Scaredy cat.
00:23I'm not sure.
00:24Thanks, you.
00:39Dramat!
00:43Dramat!
00:52No prints.
00:54Nothing taken or disturbed.
01:00no unfortunately the the blood sample wasn't big enough for the lab to get a full dna read
01:07it's disappointing wow i really thought it was enough for a full sample apparently not
01:16what about the glove mark not enough resolution for them to do anything with
01:20you know i took photos of the house right after the break-in and nothing was touched no or they
01:30put
01:31everything back in its place which is what you would do if you're installing a listening device
01:35i've applied for warrants to do exactly that you're a copper serious crime squad covert surveillance unit
01:40counter-corruption i'm innocent
01:45well i mean um as you know we've done a couple of sweeps nothing no me neither so um
01:58you know there's not much more we can do okay
02:17uh
02:21uh
03:06You've worked in surveillance, haven't you, for years,
03:09so you're telling me you can't actually see if they've got in your computer or not?
03:14No.
03:17I've done what I can to check, but you just can't tell now.
03:20You see, there's this incognito spyware runs a keylogger in the background,
03:25which means they can record every key you press, every mouse click,
03:28they can see the emails you write, your messages, your passwords, etc., everything.
03:32But they build it so you don't know it's there.
03:35What did the police say?
03:38Well, an officer came out, he took a sample of the blood,
03:42there was some blood on the handle downstairs,
03:45and he thought he could see a disposable glove mark in it,
03:48which means that whoever did it wants to make sure they're untraceable.
03:52He did think they could find a DNA result, and then nothing, nothing happens.
03:58What do you think this is?
03:59Anything they can find to discredit us.
04:03Something that would look good on the cover of the Daily Mail, for example.
04:07I mean, I can't think of anything that, you know, I mean, um...
04:10Well, you know what it is.
04:12What's that?
04:14It's the Free Jazz.
04:16If that gets out, we're fucked.
04:17Oh, fuck off.
04:19But who would want to discredit us?
04:21I don't know.
04:22Could be a burglar who just got scared and legged it.
04:26Yeah, well...
04:27Or he could have just seen...
04:29Jala's Hawaiian Cushions.
04:30Don't say that in front of Jala.
04:32I'm not gonna do that, am I?
04:33I wanna hang on to my balls.
04:36You know, the other day when this happened, the first thing I did...
04:41was pick up the phone to you.
04:43Yeah, no, I did see it, yeah.
04:45You probably saw it.
04:46I hung up.
04:48Just to...
04:49Yeah, I just think that what we need now is we need, um...
04:54We need a whistleblower, don't we?
04:56And we need someone from inside the agency.
05:00And high up.
05:01From the top, yeah.
05:05Eileen said that we must be making a difference.
05:07Did she?
05:07Yeah, she did.
05:08So, come on, let's, um...
05:10That's the point, isn't it?
05:11Yeah, we are.
05:12There's no point doing this unless we make a difference.
05:14No, let's keep going.
05:15Let's keep going.
05:16And let's find that fucking whistleblower.
05:18Right.
05:20June 2019.
05:21Sir James Bevan Environment Agency.
05:24Dear Sir James,
05:25I'm writing to your office as I'm sure you will know where to direct the question.
05:29October 2019.
05:30Dear Sir James, I wrote to you to raise concerns about a serious integrity issue involving the agency.
05:38Dear Sir James, 34 days have now passed since I sent you evidence.
05:42I've given up expecting a reply from you.
05:46Dear Ashley, I am in receipt of your email to Sir James.
05:57Would you mind coming to our office and would the 19th suit?
06:11Is Sir James not coming?
06:13I'm afraid not.
06:15No, Sir James wouldn't routinely attend meetings at this kind of level.
06:19I'd hoped he'd be here.
06:22He's time poor.
06:23Yeah.
06:23He's aware of your work.
06:24Well, we're trying to find out what you're going to do about the illegal sewage overflow at Borton.
06:31The combined storm overflow.
06:33Yeah.
06:33The combined storm overflow at Burton has shown no detectable effects on the water quality.
06:39The water quality is stable and not deteriorating.
06:41I mean, our data shows very clearly that we have the best quality water since the Industrial Revolution.
06:49The water's turned brown.
06:51Yeah.
06:52It's turned so brown that when it joins the Thames at Newbridge, it makes the Thames look like a Swiss
06:57mountain stream.
06:59The water is brown in places, but that's a natural phenomenon.
07:04It's caused by a geological fault.
07:06A geological fault?
07:07Yeah.
07:08Yeah.
07:09Sorry, a geological fault is millions of years old.
07:13We remember when the water was clear.
07:15No one remembers the good old days before the geological fault.
07:18In the last 12 months since we installed sensors, there's been no evidence of pollution.
07:23Well, that's because you've installed the monitors upstream from the sewage pipes.
07:26Now, is that incompetence or an attempt to cover up a scandal?
07:30No, no.
07:31The agency would never position a monitor to achieve a particular reading.
07:34We are working extremely hard to transform the environment.
07:37We've improved and protected something like, I think it's 15,000 kilometres of river.
07:42It's right, but you've had 92 complaints from the general public about sewage pollution.
07:49And that's just the wind rush.
07:50I've actually got the breakdown here.
07:52So, yeah, yeah.
07:57In 36 of those cases, there was no offence.
08:01And in 39, there was insufficient evidence.
08:06And in six, we were unable to identify the offender.
08:11Oh, what do you mean you couldn't identify the offenders?
08:15There's seven sewage works along the wind rush that are all run by Thames water.
08:19I mean, you say you've got insufficient evidence, but we keep giving you the evidence.
08:23All we ever do is give you the evidence and all we get back is it's under investigation.
08:27And then nothing, nothing, nothing ever happens.
08:32In exceptional circumstances, for example, after heavy rain, the sewage systems are allowed to overflow.
08:39No, no, no, no. You see, that's not the law.
08:42The law is that in all normal climatic conditions, including heavy rainfall, the water companies have to treat the sewage.
08:50They have to make it safe before they put it back into the river.
08:52The law is a grey area.
08:54No. No, it's not a grey area, with respect. It's the law.
08:58Sorry, can I? Sorry.
09:02Thames is their own data.
09:05It shows they stopped treating sewage at North Leach for more than three months.
09:11Now, they told us that their sensors had broken down, but we think they're lying.
09:19They're lying.
09:20So, well, why would they do that? Why would they lie to you?
09:38Why would they lie to you?
09:45With Potemkin regular years.
09:49Sorry?
09:52The regulation isn't real.
09:54The government want us to look like a regulator, but they won't let us do our job.
09:59Okay.
10:01When Cameron and Trust gutted the agency, we went from regulating the industry to doing its bidding.
10:09Do you think we could take your number?
10:11No, just keep going.
10:15This is going to be the first government in modern history that at the end of its parliamentary term has
10:21less regulation in place than there was at the beginning.
10:25We've now identified those 3,000 regulations that we're going to scrap.
10:29Let's reduce the amount and the burden of regulation.
10:32Strangled by red tape.
10:33Cut back the health and safety monster.
10:35Cut guidance by 80% and we reduce farm inspections by 34,000 every year.
10:41Regulations will go.
10:42None of my ministers could introduce a regulation unless they abolished one at the same time.
10:47Massively reduce the number of rules, laws and regulations that frankly treat all of you like idiots.
10:57So really it's about stripping out as much unnecessary regulation as possible and taking responsibility for climate change and saying
11:07what more can we do to get us to net zero.
11:12As you know, this is a passion project for Sir James who feels that we can bring our car usage
11:19down by 70%.
11:22Yeah, it's yeah.
11:25So from next month, we're going to be taking the bold decision to cut back decisively on our car leases.
11:36Yeah, sorry, just like to clarify what you're going to get rid of our cars.
11:44So it's about reducing the agency's carbon footprint.
11:49Just getting that.
11:50Yeah.
11:51Go ahead, Hannah.
11:52The cars that we drive to the inspections in.
11:56Right.
11:57Yeah.
11:57So self-monitoring and a more desk-based regulation is really, it's really helping us move the needle on climate
12:05change.
12:09But the remaining inspections...
12:12Well, yeah.
12:14How do we get to those without a car?
12:17Yeah.
12:19It's a great question.
12:20It's a really great question.
12:22And we'll take that forward to the next discussion meeting.
12:25Thanks, Hannah.
12:27Yeah, lovely.
12:28Thanks, everyone.
12:29Not easy news to break, is it?
12:30I'm surprised Debbie's got something to say.
12:32I know.
12:33I know.
12:33But my car...
12:34Everyone's driving cars.
12:35We're the environment agency.
12:37Absolutely.
12:37What's wrong with the train?
12:38I'll keep mine, I think.
12:39So, yeah.
12:40Mmm, coffee.
12:41How do I get a coffee?
12:44Does anybody know what we're looking at?
12:47Anybody?
12:50Okay.
12:50Could you tell me what the reactants are?
12:53So, if you move your head even slightly, the vertigo gets more intense?
12:57Yeah.
12:58And the attack's happening maybe twice a week?
13:00About that, yeah.
13:05The good news is that you don't have cancer.
13:08We actually think it's Meniere's.
13:11It's a disease of the inner ear.
13:12The main symptom is acute vertigo episodes, vomiting, tinnitus.
13:20It's a pretty neat fit with your presentation.
13:25They were dumping sewage in the water the last time before I got sick.
13:32Right.
13:33You know that from...
13:34The Suffers Against Sewage app.
13:36Okay.
13:39Might that be...
13:40The causes are unclear.
13:42It's post-viral.
13:43This often starts with an ear infection.
13:45You know, they're common in surfers.
13:47Yeah.
13:47Every surfer I know.
13:51This is a chronic condition.
13:55I'm afraid there's no cure.
14:07It is not in cursive as before.
14:12I won't do it anymore.
14:17I would always try.
14:18You made my bounce face.
14:20First thing, couldn't kill him?
14:24The skin is so beautiful.
14:26What?
14:26Not sad.
14:26Not sad.
14:49so by ending on-site inspections into categories three and four no or low impact pollution events
14:58and doubling down on the more serious category one and two incidents we think we can turn ourselves
15:06into a more effective fighting unit yeah so from today we are ending on-site inspections for cats
15:13three and four any questions well yeah um a category three incident can be two kilometers of sewage
15:26we want you to not inspect to not spend time on these incidents except that since the water
15:35companies have been self-reporting they almost always only report categories threes and fours so
15:42they're not actually reporting the serious incident and so if the water companies are
15:46only reporting threes and fours and we're no longer allowed to investigate so what exactly are we going
15:54to be doing i've told the government you get the regulation you pay for we no longer have the
16:00money to go on inspecting low-grade pollution events we need you to shut down these reports
16:06as unsubstantiated or to silently pass them and to not report them as pollution incidents
16:12yes is that clear yeah thank you thanks everyone good on with your day yeah
16:33we had to fuck fucking wankers how are you gonna get to fucking work fuck night horseback
16:50what time did he call you half past 10 last night he said he couldn't miss it
17:14get some shots and we'll call the agency on the way back
17:32we'll call the agency on the way back
17:32we can't see you at this point
17:32we can see you later on this point
17:33time to see you and be careful
17:33I've seen this point
17:38so early on
17:47all the time
18:43Debbie?
18:44Oh?
18:45Are you driving into work tomorrow?
18:47Oh, yeah, obviously. How else would I get in?
18:49Well, can I borrow your car at lunchtime?
18:53What for?
18:55Someone keeps calling up and complaining about the same incident.
18:59It's near the bridge at Hawk Rise, so I'm going to go and take a look.
19:03Shhh.
19:04Okay.
19:05A bit of freelance investigation.
19:07A bit of freelance.
19:08And also, it needs to be off the books.
19:11And I need you to promise me not to tell Sophie.
19:15I couldn't tell Sophie.
19:16You didn't want to tell Sophie?
19:17Obviously not.
19:18Why would I tell Sophie anything?
19:19Okay.
19:19Okay.
19:25Okay.
19:32Okay.
19:49Hi. Hi, is that, um, is that Justine?
19:53Hi, Justine. Um, it's, it's Hannah from the Environment Agency.
20:00Listen, it's about the, um, the pollution event at Hawke Rise.
20:04Um, it came through the system at a duration of 1.34 hours,
20:09and, and I'm here now, and it's, it's, it's still going.
20:15Yeah, yeah, I'm, I, yeah, I'm, I'm here now, yeah.
20:19The CSO's still discharging untreated sewage.
20:23I mean, there's, there's a section of the river that is covered over with dried sewage.
20:28I mean, there's, there's dead fish. You can, you can see them from the footpath.
20:31I mean, you're going to get more complaints.
20:34You need to sort this.
20:40Can you prepare and cook a simple meal unaided?
20:46Yeah, but not when I'm having an attack.
20:50Then I can't do anything. I can't, I can't move.
20:52Can you eat and drink unaided?
20:55Yeah, but, again, not when I'm having an attack.
20:59Um, and I've been getting the attacks, well, every few days for the past six months.
21:04But if, if you're not having one of your attacks, can you eat and drink unaided?
21:08Yeah, but...
21:09Yes or no is fine.
21:11Yes.
21:14Can you dress and undress unaided?
21:20It's the same answer.
21:22Moving on to the mobility section of this assessment.
21:25Can you plan and follow a journey unaided?
21:31Yeah, but not when I'm having an attack.
21:34Stand and move for 200 metres.
21:38Not when I'm having an attack.
21:40Well, you know, can you move around, walk for 200 metres?
21:43Of course I can, but not when I'm having an attack.
21:45OK.
21:46Thank you, Mr Santa.
21:47Your total score for the daily living part of the assessment is zero points.
21:52Your total score for the mobility section is zero points.
21:56When you're not having an attack, you're able to do all the tasks I asked you about.
22:00That's the thing with my condition is that sometimes I can do these things and other times I can't.
22:06And when I can't, I can't, I can't do anything.
22:09I can't award you a personal independence payment.
22:11I don't know what to do.
22:12If you need further guidance about how to appeal, you can use the web chat to get some help.
22:18If you cannot access the web chat, you can contact the benefits appeal helpline on 0300168.
22:34Hannah.
22:35Oh, shit.
22:35Sorry.
22:36Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you.
22:37Um, do you have a second?
22:39Can I have a word?
22:40Of course.
22:41Yeah?
22:41OK.
22:42So I've just, I just got off the phone to Justine Wright-Phillips at the water company.
22:46Yeah.
22:47Yeah, she said, she said you called her.
22:49Yeah, I, yeah, I did.
22:52OK, she said you called her from the site.
22:55Well, I saw that it'd been logged on the system for the fifth time and people kept calling up complaining
23:00and nobody was doing anything about it, so I...
23:02But we don't have the revenue to be investigating catapult.
23:08It's not a category three.
23:08It's not a category three, Sophie.
23:11The river is dried over with excrement.
23:14You can see it from...
23:15Yeah, so that's what I wanted to talk to you about.
23:17So Justine says that the dispersal rate in that area is really high.
23:21Is it?
23:22Yeah, she says, she says there's like a strong current and a high dispersal rate of the untreated
23:26The overflow pipe has been discharging for over 36 hours and it is still going.
23:30All right, that's...
23:31Untreated...
23:31That is the water company's responsibility to report to us.
23:35You know this.
23:38OK, and Justine says that actually, really, the, um...
23:42Because of the high dispersal rate, that it should come down to a category four.
23:48Be a category four?
23:49Yes.
23:50Right.
23:50Mm-hm.
23:52So, no impact on the environment, no action needed?
23:57Yes.
23:59Mm-hm.
24:04Oh, you want me to change it on this system?
24:05Would you?
24:06Could you?
24:07Yeah?
24:08OK, thanks so much.
24:10That's great.
24:11Lovely.
24:16Wow.
24:20So, you see how well we're doing?
24:22Yeah, of course.
24:23What are you joking?
24:24You're not joking.
24:25You know Sroik?
24:28No, what's that?
24:30Strategic Review of Incident Charges, yeah?
24:32It's like what we charge the clients for permits and that.
24:35So, we don't have clients, Cheryl.
24:37We're an environment agency.
24:39OK, yes, sorry.
24:39Yes, we don't have clients.
24:41But Sir James has put the prices up, yeah?
24:45And I'm talking, like, up, up.
24:47Big time.
24:49Well, he's charging the water companies more.
24:51Yep.
24:52Well, they must...
24:53Surely they've gone down to the government, like, lobbying them, going,
24:55my, J-game, the charges are taken down.
24:58No.
24:59Not a peep.
24:59Not a...
25:00Not a peep.
25:01Sorry, they're just paying it.
25:04We've basically had such a high revenue spike, yeah,
25:08that we are on our way to becoming a client-funded regulator.
25:15Sorry, hold on one minute.
25:16This is going a bit...
25:17So, you're saying that the water companies are funding the environment agency?
25:24That's what you're...
25:25Really, you see the issues there.
25:27You can't be serious.
25:29A client-funded regulator.
25:34Amazing, isn't it?
25:34How can that even be a thing?
25:37It's a thing.
25:38Well, hold on, because literally, the other day, Sir James said that you get the regulation
25:43that you pay for.
25:44Yeah.
25:45That we haven't got the money to do the investigations that we used to do.
25:49Nobody's paying for them.
25:50OK, that's your area, isn't it?
25:53I mean, all I know is that we have got more cash than we've ever had before.
26:00Just making conversation.
26:05I've got the job.
26:06Postman?
26:07Mm-hmm.
26:08No?
26:08Yeah.
26:08Did you?
26:09Yeah.
26:09Oh, you're fine.
26:11Yeah, really good timing.
26:14Uh-huh.
26:15Because I did two pregnancy tests this morning.
26:20What?
26:20And, yeah, I'm pregnant.
26:23What?
26:23Yeah, pregnant.
26:25No.
26:25Yeah.
26:26Yeah.
26:27I sort of just had a funny feeling and then, yeah, did one test, two lines, and then I
26:34did another test and it said two lines as well, and I was like, fuck.
26:49I'm Susan Davey.
26:50I am the CEO of Southwest Water.
26:53Basically, the wet weather events.
26:55Overflow.
26:56Put a strain on our Victorian networks.
26:58Victorian.
26:59And, unfortunately, we have a Victorian sewage system, which we have inherited, and that
27:06means things do go wrong.
27:08Did you say Victorian sewage network?
27:1012%.
27:1112?
27:1212%?
27:13What's 12%?
27:1412% of the sewage system is Victorian.
27:17What do they tell you?
27:19That the whole of the system was Victorian, so that meant that the investment would be so
27:25high that it'd be impossible to actually fix it all.
27:29Bollocks.
27:29Shall I tell you what stopped it?
27:32When privatisation came in, they just stopped spending.
27:35After the war, they kept upgrading.
27:37Then, after privatisation came in, they just stopped.
27:41Not just Thames, all of them.
27:456% new plants is privatisation.
27:486%?
27:496%.
27:49Is that all?
27:50You know what would be good?
27:50If we could maybe come and visit one of the works?
27:54I don't know about that.
27:55Well, I'd have to see, lads, honestly, because even just doing this, I feel a bit nervous.
28:01Fucking London Stadium.
28:02That's not a proper stadium.
28:04Fucking massive.
28:05Upton Park.
28:05Now, that was a proper stadium, mate.
28:07London Stadium's too big.
28:09You fucking binoculars.
28:10Do you know what I mean?
28:10Yeah.
28:11Sorry, Pete.
28:12Did you want to see an EDM?
28:13Oh, yes.
28:14Yes, that's right.
28:15Well, I remember.
28:15So, this is an event duration monitor.
28:19Now, we fitted one of these on every sewage pipe in England.
28:23In 2012, right, the coalition government, they ordered all the water companies to record
28:29how much time they spend dumping raw sewage.
28:32These little units, they measure how much poo goes into the river by hours.
28:37Management have been dragging their feet for eight years now.
28:40But we're finally getting most of it in now.
28:43And the agency, they've got to publish their numbers.
28:46They have to, by law.
28:47I mean, they're not going to like it, but tough shit.
28:52EDMs.
28:54Yes.
28:57So, we are finalising plans for the statutory publication of the EDM numbers.
29:06As you know, there have been some technical delays, but it looks like they're almost ready.
29:15And they're going to come as a bit of a shock.
29:18Well, the data's going to show that the water companies discharged raw sewage 400,000 times in 2020.
29:29That's 1,100 times a day for a total of 3.1 million hours.
29:40It's a bit of a shocker.
29:42Can I just say that, um, since operator self-monitoring, we've had to rely on the water companies to report
29:50back to us.
29:51Yeah, I think that the key here is that this doesn't get framed as a failure of regulation.
29:57That is, that is, that would be quite wrong.
29:59And, uh, and I think managing comms on this is going to be key.
30:03And we are working actively with the water companies to, uh, to, to, to bear down on the problem.
30:11Yeah.
30:11And, uh...
30:12But that's 1,100 criminal offences a day.
30:16Well, that's actually, that's debatable, because that depends on the terms of the permits and the circumstances around each spill.
30:23Yeah, and we know the legislation permits discharging after heavy rainfall and so...
30:28No, no, no, it doesn't.
30:29Sorry, Hannah.
30:31The law doesn't say that you can just dump sewage after heavy rain.
30:35It says that in all normal, climatic and seasonal circumstances, the water companies have to treat the sewage, not just
30:43dump it.
30:44But it's not the agency's job to adjudicate legal matters.
30:47I mean, this is actually a matter for the courts.
30:50No, no, no, this is, this is our job.
30:52It's our job to enforce the law.
30:55Yeah.
30:56That's what we're here to do.
31:03Can you, um, you...
31:05Did you want to?
31:05No, no, you, you finish off here, Sophie.
31:11So we've identified the problem, and now we work on the problem.
31:14Yeah.
31:14Which is reframing and owning the narrative.
31:16Yeah, we, we, we don't want this to get misconstrued as some sort of failure on our part, because it
31:20just isn't.
31:20Thanks, that's really nice.
31:21Yeah, thanks.
31:22Thanks so much.
31:23Thanks.
31:25Cool.
31:26Lovely.
31:26Thanks, guys.
31:27Thanks so much.
31:28By, by the way, um, so, I've heard you're going to give evidence in Parliament.
31:34Yes.
31:35Yes.
31:35Amazing.
31:36Yeah, I think you're bad.
31:39What does that mean, thinking about it?
31:40He's, uh, he's nervous.
31:42No, I'm not nervous.
31:43He's nervous?
31:44No, it's not that I'm nervous.
31:46I, I want to do it.
31:47Yeah.
31:47It's just, it's difficult.
31:48Pete.
31:49Don't, don't worry about it.
31:50I'll keep, yeah.
31:51We're counting on you.
31:52We, we are really counting on you.
31:53And you can explain it in this scientific way.
31:56You're going to come across brilliantly.
31:57They're going to believe you, mate.
31:58Well, it, it, it's, it's not really as simple as that.
32:02I mean, the boys from Mogden called me earlier, right?
32:04Yeah.
32:05And they told me that they dumped two billion litres of sewage in the Thames over two days.
32:11Environment Agency haven't got a scooby.
32:13Do they send you the data?
32:14I've got the data, yeah.
32:15All right.
32:16Can you send that to us?
32:17I will send it to you.
32:17We're not going to let you down.
32:19It makes sense.
32:20Please, you can do this.
32:21Come on, Pete.
32:22I know.
32:23You're a legend, mate.
32:24Come on.
32:35We now have the lowest number of serious pollution incidents from water companies that we have yet recorded.
32:44More water companies are now at the highest level.
32:47of performance, what we call four-star performance.
32:52I mean, we now have the lowest number of serious pollution incidents from water companies that we have yet recorded.
32:58We'll be right in the lower ranking.
33:03We'll be right back in the end.
33:08We'll be right back in the middle.
33:10We're going to look at the outside of the forest, right?
33:11obsessed.
33:13Are you in the fighting?
33:16I'll be so brave.
33:19I think so.
33:28I'm an environment officer at the agency.
33:31I investigate sewage pollution.
33:36When I first joined, it wasn't a job to get rich on.
33:43I could see I was making a difference.
33:47Corporations want to make money.
33:49We make sure that they don't poison the rivers doing it.
33:52We could investigate, prosecute, whatever it took.
33:58But then they told the companies that they could regulate themselves.
34:03That's appraiser, self-monitoring.
34:06Exactly.
34:07Then came the Cameron cuts, then the trust cuts.
34:12They laid off investigators, slashed prosecutions.
34:16I mean, they even took our cars off of us
34:17so we couldn't visit pollution sites.
34:19So all these cuts meant you couldn't do your job properly?
34:23That's not it.
34:27In 2021, Sir James hiked the prices the water companies paid for their permits.
34:33It was called charge-funded regulation.
34:36We get $96 million from the government.
34:39We are now pulling in $411 million from charges.
34:45All these cuts, they're just a smokescreen.
34:48We're swimming in cash.
34:52I am doing this because I know that it is wrong.
34:55And it has ruined my whole working life.
35:02Good luck.
35:16Right.
35:21Fucking hell.
35:22What should we do?
35:23Well, first we read them, and then I think we should call some journalists.
35:30The Environment Agency has refused to comment on whether agency directors
35:36currently hold shares in UK water companies.
35:39The agency claimed it would break data protection laws if it disclosed the information.
35:45Environment Agency chiefs secretly held a series of private dinners with water company bosses
35:50at the Royal Automobile Club in central London.
35:53Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act showed the meetings were held
35:57to discuss how to quell public anger over sewage spurs.
36:01As the sewage scandal deepens, Environment Agency CEO Sir James Bevan
36:06has been called to give evidence to a parliamentary committee.
36:09Well, we need to talk about what we say in public
36:12and the responsibilities we have.
36:15You have a duty not to openly criticise or discredit the organisation in the media
36:23or on social media.
36:26Or to disclose confidential information to anyone not authorised to receive it!
36:34If your comments, inside or outside work, impact on the agency's reputation
36:39by making derogatory comments about the organisation or your managers,
36:44or you may make comments that bring the organisation into disrepute,
36:48you may be subject to disciplinary action.
36:52And in more serious cases, dismissal.
37:10I don't think I want to do this.
37:16You'll be fine.
37:17Need the toilet?
37:20I'm all right.
37:21I need a bloody toilet.
37:23Do you want a pie?
37:24What does that mean?
37:28Well, um, my garden is a, uh, an island
37:33which the Windrush, uh, wraps around.
37:38I've watched it closely for 18 years
37:41and I watched the water turn brown.
37:45I led a team of scientists
37:47using a machine learning analysis
37:50of two sewage treatment works run by Thames Water.
37:55One of those works, the Environment Agency said,
37:58over ten years,
38:00that only two pollution incidents had been reported.
38:04Our, uh, machine learning, uh, analysis,
38:08uh, uh, it, it showed hundreds of illegal spills.
38:13More than, uh, more than 300 lasted 24 hours.
38:18And some, uh, longer than ten days.
38:23And some for a month.
38:25Have you shown this evidence to the Environment Agency?
38:29Uh, well, we are.
38:30I've shown the evidence, like, many times.
38:33What usually happens is that they, uh,
38:37they say that, uh, they show a sign of interest,
38:39but then nothing happens.
38:43Well, we work very closely with Professor Hammond
38:47of, uh, Windrush Against Sewage Pollution.
38:51We have, uh, regular and very fruitful dialogue with him.
38:56You've worked closely with Professor Hammond.
38:59Uh, he and Ashley Smith sent you at least 13 emails
39:05detailing evidence of illegal sewage dumping.
39:08He published five evidence reports
39:11documenting water company criminality,
39:14all of which were sent to you or your senior colleagues.
39:17They invited you to come and look at the river in 2019.
39:23And the following year sent you an email with the heading
39:27Environment Agency Complicit in Lawbreaking.
39:37They never heard back.
39:39You never once replied in five years.
39:43How did you manage to work so closely with Professor Hammond
39:47when you never once spoke to him?
39:48At the Thames Water Mogden Treatment Works,
39:52there was a spill of 240 Olympic swimming pools of sewage
39:59in a single day.
40:01The existing monitoring failed to pick that up.
40:05Now, why was that?
40:06There will always be times when, uh, something happens,
40:10usually accidentally.
40:12But if we find that a water company has breached its permit,
40:18we will take appropriate action.
40:20Does appropriate action include prosecuting water company executives?
40:25Prosecution is a very high bar, but, uh...
40:29Where we think that's appropriate, we wouldn't hesitate.
40:33Did you prosecute in this case?
40:35No.
40:37Have you ever prosecuted any water company executives?
40:41No, but if we thought the evidence warranted it,
40:45we wouldn't hesitate.
40:48Last year, you told this committee
40:50that you became aware of sewage dumping in May 2021.
40:54Yes.
40:54But three weeks after that,
40:57you told the committee that the water companies were improving
40:59and that more of them were getting
41:02four out of four stars.
41:05Why were you telling the committee
41:06that the water companies were doing a four-star job?
41:12Well, you've...
41:14quoted everything I said.
41:16I think I stand by everything I said.
41:20I think you'll find them mutually consistent.
41:25The agency's job is to make sure
41:29the water companies obey the criminal law,
41:32but it doesn't do it,
41:33and the water companies do whatever they want.
41:35The alleged crimes of their directors
41:38are never prosecuted.
41:42They've built criminality into their business models
41:45because pollution is highly profitable
41:47and repeat offending has no consequences.
41:51Therefore, in the light of the remarkable absence
41:55of any counter-corruption measures,
41:57we demand an investigation into the Environment Agency.
42:04The key test for me on regulation...
42:07Less regulation...
42:08Is it something that enables the builders,
42:10not the blockers?
42:11Cut guidance by 80%.
42:12We've also got to look at regulation...
42:15Regulations will go...
42:16And where it is needlessly holding back the investment...
42:19Reduce the amount and the burden of regulation...
42:22Rip up the bureaucracy that blocks investment.
42:24Northumbria and Water recorded 30.1 spills per overflow
42:28over the course of 2023.
42:30280,000 hours and change in total.
42:36The chief executive, Heidi Mottram,
42:38received a bonus of £234,000 that year.
42:44Why did you take football tickets from the parent company?
42:49Well, I didn't.
42:51OK.
42:51C.K. Hutchins Holdings earns 75% of Chung Kong Infrastructure Holdings,
42:56the owner of Northumbria and Water.
42:57And you declared £2,000 in football tickets and hospitality.
43:01Well, on that occasion, there was nobody from a water company
43:05that was involved in offering those tickets.
43:08There was nobody from a water company at that event.
43:10Well, I wouldn't have known that.
43:12They weren't present and there were no...
43:13Why didn't you know? You should have known that.
43:14You said that these sort of people should potentially be in the dock
43:17if they have been found to break the rules.
43:20You took £2,000 in tickets and hospitality for a football match
43:24from bosses linked to that company that polluted that water.
43:28Why should people in Northumbria think that you're fit for your dock?
43:31Well, I certainly wouldn't have known that.
43:32And judge me by what I did.
43:33Why not?
43:33Judge me by what I did.
43:34No, no, that is what you did.
43:48Environment Minister Steve Reid is pursuing legal action
43:52against a group of anglers trying to restore the ecosystem of their local river
43:57on the grounds that cleaning up individual rivers is administratively unworkable.
44:04Concerns have been raised about the number of leading labour figures
44:07with links to lobbying firms working for water companies.
44:10Among the invited guests at the government's international investment summit
44:14was Macquarie Bank.
44:16Described as the vampire kangaroo by critics,
44:20Macquarie presided over the near collapse of Thames Water,
44:23leaving it £10 billion in debt
44:25after having illegally dumped billions of litres of raw sewage.
44:46Reuben?
44:50Reuben?
44:55I know I can't be left alone with her.
45:02Privatised water is a better deal than nationalised water.
45:06Come on, Flutie, get it!
45:07That the water privatisation, I believe, will go very successfully indeed.
45:13That will go very successfully indeed.
45:15And perhaps therefore we have better wait and see
45:18so that we can pontificate in the light of the fact.
45:21How did it come to this?
45:25How did it...
45:26How did it happen that...
45:28That England is the only place in the whole world
45:33whose water system is wholly privatised?
45:39And that our seas and our rivers
45:42are full of shite?
45:45I just feel like we're trying to bring down
45:48England's biggest organised crime syndicate.
45:53I mean, they're not the mafia, these water companies.
45:57They're not a drugs cartel,
45:59but they do dump sewage a thousand times a day.
46:03And almost all of those are illegal.
46:06And the cash they've accumulated,
46:12£145 billion since privatisation,
46:16and they've got that
46:16because they seem to have built criminality
46:19into their business models.
46:22So they are like an organised crime syndicate.
46:27And the CEOs and the owners are like crime bosses.
46:32I mean, they don't murder people, obviously.
46:36They're not assassins.
46:40But me and Peter are sitting here
46:42waiting for these crime lords to put things right.
46:49And if we leave them to their own devices,
46:53they never will.
46:56They never will.
46:59We've put the things that we own
47:01and care about together,
47:05we've put them into the hands of financial speculators,
47:08whose job it is, is just to make money.
47:12We need to put the people who care in charge.
47:16So we're in charge.
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49:35Oh, my God.
50:32Oh, my God.
50:35Oh, my God.
51:33Oh, my God.
51:35Oh, my God.
51:52Oh, my God.
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