Dirty Business S01E03 (2026)
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We provide carefully selected series full of romance, drama, suspense, and emotional storytelling. Whether you enjoy Turkish dramas, Chinese historical series, Korean romantic dramas, Thai lakorn, or Filipino teleserye, PrimeSeries delivers high-quality episodes with accurate English subtitles for global audiences.
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TVTranscript
00:04I'm not sure if I'm going to go in.
00:06Really?
00:07Yeah.
00:08You'll be fine.
00:09Be cold.
00:10Drowning.
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.
00:24That's you.
00:38We're in, mate!
00:43We're in!
00:44We're in!
00:46We're in!
00:47We're in!
00:50We're in!
00:51We're in!
00:51No prints.
00:53Nothing taken or disturbed.
00:57No.
00:59Unfortunately, the blood sample wasn't big enough for the lab to get a full DNA read.
01:05It's disappointing.
01:08Well, I really thought it was enough for a full sample.
01:12Apparently not.
01:14What about the glove mark?
01:15Not enough resolution for them to do anything with.
01:18You know, I took photos of the house right after the break-in.
01:23And nothing was touched?
01:24No.
01:26Or they put everything back in its place, which is what you would do if you were installing a listening
01:31device.
01:32I've applied for warrants to do exactly that.
01:34You're a copper?
01:34Serious Crime Squad. Covert Surveillance Unit. Counter-corruption.
01:38I'm innocent.
01:41Well, I mean, as you know, we've done a couple of sweeps. Nothing.
01:50No, me neither.
01:52So, um, there's not much more we can do.
01:57Okay.
01:57Come here.
02:29Come here.
02:59You've worked in surveillance, haven't you, for years, so you're telling me you can't
03:03actually see if they've got a new computer or not?
03:06No.
03:08I've done what I can to check, but you just can't tell now.
03:12You see, there's this incognito spyware runs a keylogger in the background, which means
03:17they can record every key you press, every mouse click.
03:19They can see the emails you write, your messages, your passwords, et cetera, everything.
03:23But they build it so you don't know it's there.
03:26What did the police say?
03:29Well, an officer came out.
03:31He took a sample of the blood.
03:32There was some blood on the handle downstairs.
03:35And he thought he could see a disposable glove mark in it, which means that whoever did it
03:40wants to make sure they're untraceable.
03:42He did think they could find a DNA result.
03:44And then nothing, nothing happens.
03:47What do you think this is?
03:49Anything they can find to discredit us.
03:52Something that would look good on the cover of the Daily Mail, for example.
03:56I mean, I can't think of anything that, you know, I mean, I'm...
03:59Well, you know what it is.
04:01What's that?
04:03It's the free jazz.
04:05If that gets out, we're fucked.
04:06Oh, fuck off.
04:08But who would want to discredit us, sir?
04:10I don't know.
04:11Could be a burglar who just got scared and legged it.
04:14Yeah, well, or he could have just seen Charlie's Hawaiian Cushions.
04:18Don't say that in front of Joe.
04:20Fuck, I'm not going to do that, I don't know.
04:21I want to hang on to my balls.
04:24You know, the other day when this happened, the first thing I did was pick up the phone
04:30to you.
04:31Yeah, no, I did see it, yeah.
04:33You probably saw it.
04:33I hung up, just to...
04:36Yeah, I just think that what we need now is we need a whistleblower, don't we?
04:43And we need someone from inside the agency.
04:47And high up.
04:48From the top, you know.
04:51Eileen said that we must be making a difference.
04:53Did she?
04:54Yeah, she did.
04:55So, come on, let's...
04:57That's the point, isn't it?
04:58Yeah, we are.
04:58There's no point doing this unless we make a difference.
04:59No, let's keep going.
05:01Let's keep going and let's find that fucking whistleblower.
05:04Right.
05:05June 2019, Sir James Bevan Environment Agency.
05:10Dear Sir James, I'm writing to your office as I'm sure you will know where to direct the
05:14question.
05:14October 2019, dear Sir James, I wrote to you to raise concerns about a serious integrity
05:21issue involving the agency.
05:23Dear Sir James, 34 days have now passed since I sent you evidence.
05:27I've given up expecting a reply from you.
05:31Dear Ashley, I am in the receipt of your email to Sir James.
05:41Would you mind coming to our office and would the 19th suit?
05:55Is Sir James not coming?
05:57I'm afraid not.
05:58No, Sir James wouldn't routinely attend meetings at this kind of level.
06:02I'd hoped he'd be here.
06:04He's time for.
06:06He's aware of your work.
06:07Well, we're trying to find out what you're going to do about the illegal sewage overflow at
06:16The combined storm overflow at Burton has shown no detectable effects on the water quality.
06:21The water quality is stable and not deteriorating.
06:24I mean, our data shows very clearly that we have the best quality water since the Industrial
06:28Revolution.
06:31The water's turned brown.
06:32Yeah.
06:33It's turned so brown that when it joins the Thames at Newbridge, it makes the Thames look
06:37like a Swiss mountain stream.
06:40The water is brown in places, but that's a natural phenomenon.
06:45It's caused by geological faults.
06:47A geological fault?
06:48Yeah.
06:49Yeah.
06:49Sorry, a geological fault is millions of years old.
06:53We remember when the water was clear.
06:55No one remembers the good old days before the geological faults.
06:58In the last 12 months since we installed sensors, there's been no evidence of pollution.
07:03Well, that's because you've installed the monitors upstream from the sewage pipes.
07:06Now, is that incompetence or an attempt to cover up a scandal?
07:10No, no.
07:10The agency would never position a monitor to achieve a particular reading.
07:14We are working extremely hard to transform the environment.
07:16We've improved and protected something like, I think it's 15,000 kilometers of river.
07:21It's like, but you've had 92 complaints from the general public about sewage pollution.
07:27Well, that's just the windrush.
07:29I've actually got the breakdown here.
07:32Yeah, yeah.
07:35In 36 of those cases, there was no offense.
07:39And in 39, there was insufficient evidence.
07:44And in 6, we were unable to identify the offender.
07:48Well, what do you mean you couldn't identify the offenders?
07:51Why can't you identify the offenders?
07:52There's seven sewage works along the windrush.
07:55They're all run by Thames Water.
07:56I mean, you say you've got insufficient evidence, but we keep giving you the evidence.
08:00All we ever do is give you the evidence.
08:02And all we get back is it's under investigation.
08:04And then nothing, nothing, nothing ever happens.
08:08In exceptional circumstances, for example, after heavy rain, the sewage systems are allowed
08:14to overflow.
08:15No, no, no, no.
08:17You see, that's not the law.
08:18The law is that in all normal climatic conditions, including heavy rainfall, the water companies
08:24have to treat the sewage.
08:25They have to make it safe before they put it back into the river.
08:29The law is a grey area.
08:30No, no, it's not a grey area, with respect.
08:33It's the law.
08:33Sorry, can I?
08:35Sorry.
08:37Thames is their own data.
08:40It shows they stopped treating sewage at North Leach for more than three months.
08:46Now, they told us that their sensors have broken down, but we think they're lying.
08:54They're lying.
08:55So why would they do that?
08:57Why would they lie to you?
09:12The door's open here.
09:18We're petemking regulators.
09:22Sorry?
09:25The regulation isn't real.
09:27The government want us to look like a regulator, but they won't let us do our job.
09:32Okay.
09:34When Cameron and Truss gutted the agency, we went from regulating the industry to doing its bidding.
09:41Do you think we could take your number...
09:43Look, just keep going.
09:47This is going to be the first government in modern history that at the end of its parliamentary term
09:53has less regulation in place than there was at the beginning.
09:56We've now identified those 3,000 regulations that we're going to scrap.
10:00Let's reduce the amount and the burden of regulation strangled by retaining back the health and safety monster.
10:06Cut guidance by 80% and we reduce farm inspections by 34,000 every year.
10:12Regulations will...
10:13None of my ministers could introduce a regulation unless they abolished one at the same time.
10:17Massively reduce the number of rules, laws and regulations
10:21that frankly treat all of you like idiots.
10:27So, really, it's about stripping out as much unnecessary regulation as possible
10:33and taking responsibility for climate change
10:36and saying, what more can we do to get us to net zero?
10:41As you know, this is a passion project for Sir James,
10:44who feels that we can bring our car usage down by 70%.
10:51Yeah.
10:52It's... Yeah.
10:53So, from next month, we're going to be taking the bold decision
10:58to cut back decisively on our car leases.
11:04Yeah.
11:05Sorry.
11:06Just like to clarify what...
11:09You're going to get rid of our cars.
11:12So, it's about reducing the agency's carbon footprint.
11:16Just getting that... Yeah.
11:19Go ahead, Hannah.
11:19The cars that we drive to the inspections in.
11:23Right. Yeah.
11:24So, self-monitoring and a more desk-based regulation
11:28is really...
11:29It's really helping us move the needle on climate change.
11:35But the remaining inspections...
11:39Yeah.
11:40How do we get to those without a car?
11:43Yeah.
11:45It's a great question.
11:46It's a really great question.
11:48And we'll take that forward to the next discussion meeting.
11:51Thanks, Hannah.
11:53Yeah, lovely. Thanks, everyone.
11:54Not easy news to break, is it?
11:56Yeah, it's fine. It's all right.
11:57Debbie's got something to say.
11:58I know. I know. I know.
11:59But my car...
11:59Everyone's driving cars. We're the environment agency.
12:02Absolutely.
12:02What's wrong with the train? I'll keep mine, I think.
12:04So, yeah.
12:05Mmm, coffee. How do I get a coffee?
12:09Does anybody know what we're looking at?
12:12Anybody?
12:14Okay.
12:15Could you tell me what the reactants are?
12:18So, if you move your head even slightly,
12:19the vertical gets more intense?
12:21Yeah.
12:21And the attack's happening maybe twice a week?
12:24About that, yeah.
12:29The good news is that you don't have cancer.
12:32We actually think it's Meniere's.
12:34It's a disease of the inner ear.
12:36The main symptom is acute vertical episodes,
12:40vomiting,
12:41tinnitus.
12:43It's a pretty neat fit with your presentation.
12:48They were dumping sewage
12:50in the water
12:51the last time before I got sick.
12:54Right.
12:55You know that from the surface against sewage, yeah?
12:59Okay.
13:01Might that be?
13:02The causes are unclear.
13:04It's post-viral.
13:05This often starts with an ear infection.
13:07They're common in surfers.
13:08Yeah.
13:09Every surfer I know.
13:13This is a chronic condition.
13:16I'm afraid there's no cure.
13:31It's not a chronic condition.
13:34I'm afraid there's no cure.
13:39I'm afraid there's no cure.
13:43I'm sure there's no cure on it.
13:44I'm afraid there's no cure on it.
13:45I don't have to be able to cover it.
13:47I don't have to be able to cover it.
13:48I don't have to go in there.
14:08So, by ending on-site inspections into categories 3 and 4,
14:14no or low-impact pollution events and doubling down,
14:18on the more serious Category 1 and 2 incidents,
14:22we think we can turn ourselves into a more effective fighting unit.
14:26Yeah. So, from today, we are ending on-site inspections for Cats 3 and 4.
14:32Any questions?
14:34Well, yeah.
14:37A Category 3 incident can be two kilometres of sewage.
14:42Hmm. We want you to not inspect, to not spend time on these incidents.
14:49Except that, since the water companies have been self-reporting,
14:54they almost always only report Category 3s and 4s,
14:59so they're not actually reporting a serious incident.
15:01And so, if the water companies are only reporting 3s and 4s,
15:05and we're no longer allowed to investigate...
15:08So, what, Danny, are we going to be doing?
15:11I've told the government, you get the regulation you pay for.
15:14We no longer have the money to go on inspecting low-grade pollution events.
15:19We need you to shut down these reports as unsubstantiated,
15:22or to silently pass them, and to not report them as pollution incidents.
15:27Yes. Is that clear?
15:33Yeah. Thank you. Thanks, everyone.
15:35You're on with your day?
15:36Yeah.
15:47We had to fuck.
15:49Fucking wankers. How are you going to get to fucking work?
15:52Fuck nice.
15:55Horseback.
16:03What time did he call you?
16:05I passed ten last night.
16:08Said he couldn't miss it.
16:20Oh, my God. Look at that.
16:22Oh, my God. Look at that.
16:25Oh, my God. Look at that.
16:25Oh, my God. Look at that.
16:25Oh, my God. Look at that.
16:26Oh, my God.
16:27Hold on.
16:27We'll get some shots and we'll call the agency on the way back.
16:29I don't know.
17:01I don't know.
17:57I don't know.
17:59What for?
18:02Someone keeps calling up and complaining about the same incident.
18:06It's near the bridge at Hawkrise, so I'm going to go and take a look.
18:11Okay.
18:12A bit of freelance investigation.
18:14A bit of freelance.
18:15And also, he needs to be off the books.
18:17And I need you to promise me not to tell Sophie.
18:21I couldn't tell Sophie.
18:22You couldn't tell Sophie?
18:23Within our water, Sophie anything.
18:25Okay.
18:53Hi.
18:55Hi.
18:55Is that Justine?
18:58Hi, Justine.
18:59It's Hannah from the Environment Agency.
19:04Listen, it's about the pollution event at Hawke-Rise.
19:09It came through the system at a duration of 1.34 hours,
19:13and I'm here now, and it's still going.
19:19Yeah, yeah, I'm here now, yeah.
19:22The CSO's still discharging untreated sewage.
19:26I mean, there's a section of the river that is covered over with dried sewage.
19:31I mean, these dead fish, you can see them from the footpath.
19:34I mean, you're going to get more complaints.
19:35You need to sort this.
19:42Can you prepare and cook a simple meal unaided?
19:47Yeah, but not when I'm having an attack.
19:51Then I can't do anything, I can't move.
19:54Can you eat and drink unaided?
19:56Yeah, but again, not when I'm having an attack.
20:01I've been getting the attacks every few days for the past six months.
20:05But if you're not having one of your attacks, can you eat and drink unaided?
20:09Yeah, but...
20:10Yes or no is fine.
20:12Yes.
20:15Can you dress and undress unaided?
20:20It's the same answer.
20:22Moving on to the mobility section of this assessment.
20:25Can you plan and follow a journey unaided?
20:31Yeah, but not when I'm having an attack.
20:33Standard move for 200 metres.
20:37Not when I'm having an attack.
20:39Well, you know, can you move around, walk for 200 metres?
20:42Of course I can, but not when I'm having an attack.
20:44OK.
20:45Thank you, Mr Santa.
20:46Your total score for the daily living part of the assessment is zero points.
20:51Your total score for the mobility section is zero points.
20:55When you're not having an attack, you're able to do all the tasks I asked you about.
20:58That's the thing with my condition is that sometimes I can do these things,
21:03and other times I can't, and when I can't, I can't...
21:05I can't award you a personal independence payment.
21:08I don't know what to do.
21:09If you need further guidance about how to appeal, you can use the web chat to get some help.
21:15If you cannot access the web chat, you can contact the benefits appeal helpline on 0300...
21:31Hannah.
21:32Sorry. Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you.
21:34Do you have a second? Can I have a word?
21:36Of course.
21:37Yeah? OK.
21:38So I've just, I just got off the phone to Justine Wright Phillips at the water company.
21:42Yeah.
21:43Yeah, she said, she said you called her.
21:45Yeah, I...
21:46Yeah, you...
21:47I did.
21:48OK, she said you called her from the site.
21:51Well, I saw that it had been logged on the system for the fifth time,
21:54and people kept calling up complaining, and nobody was doing anything about it, so I...
21:58But we don't have the revenue to be investigating Category 3.
22:02Please.
22:03It's not a Category 3, Sophie.
22:06The river is dried over with excrement.
22:08You can see it from...
22:09Yeah, so that's what I wanted to talk to you about.
22:11So Justine says that the dispersal rate in that area is really high.
22:16Is it?
22:16I...
22:17Yeah, she says, she says there's like a strong current and a high dispersal...
22:20The overflow pipe has been discharging for over 36 hours, and it is still going.
22:25All right, that's...
22:25Untreated.
22:25That is the water company's responsibility to report to us.
22:29You know this.
22:32OK?
22:32And Justine says that actually, really, the...
22:35Because of the high dispersal rate, that it should come down to a Category 4.
22:41Be a Category 4?
22:43Yes.
22:43Right.
22:45So, no impact on the environment.
22:48No action needed.
22:50Yes.
22:52Mm-hmm.
22:56Oh, you want me to change it on the system?
22:58Could you?
22:58Could you?
22:59Yeah?
23:00OK, thanks so much.
23:02That's great.
23:03Lovely.
23:12So, you see how well we're doing?
23:14Yeah, of course.
23:14Are you joking?
23:15I'm not joking.
23:17You know SROIC?
23:19No, what's that?
23:21Strategic Review of Incident Charges.
23:23Yeah, it's like what we charge the clients for permits and that.
23:26So, we don't have clients, Cheryl.
23:28No.
23:28We're an environment agency.
23:30Yes, sorry.
23:30Yes.
23:31We don't have clients.
23:32But, Sir James has put the prices up, yeah?
23:35And I'm talking like up, up.
23:37Big time.
23:39Well, he's charging the water companies more.
23:41Yep.
23:42Well, they must...
23:43Surely they've gone down to the government, like, lobbying them, going mad.
23:46Yeah, getting the charges taken down.
23:47No.
23:48Not a peep.
23:49Not a...
23:50Not a peep.
23:51They're just paying it.
23:53We've basically had such a high revenue spike, yeah?
23:58That we are on our way to becoming a client-funded regulator.
24:04Sorry, wait, hold on one minute.
24:05This is going a bit...
24:06So, you're saying that the water companies are funding the Environment Agency.
24:12That's what you're...
24:14Really?
24:14What's happening?
24:15You see the issues there.
24:16You can't be serious.
24:17A client-funded regulator.
24:22Amazing, isn't it?
24:22How can that even be a thing?
24:25It's a thing.
24:26Well, hold on, because literally, the other day, Sir James said that you get the regulation
24:31that you pay for.
24:32Yeah.
24:32That we haven't got the money to do the investigations that we used to do.
24:37We're not...
24:37Nobody's paying for them.
24:38Okay.
24:38That's your area, isn't it?
24:40I mean...
24:41All I know is that we have got more cash than we've ever had before.
24:47Just making conversation.
24:51I've got the job.
24:53Hostman?
24:53Mm-hmm.
24:54No!
24:54Did you?
24:55Yeah.
24:56Oh, God!
24:57Yeah, really good timing.
25:00Uh-huh.
25:01Because I did two pregnancy tests this morning.
25:06What?
25:06And...
25:07Yeah, I'm pregnant.
25:08What?
25:09Yeah.
25:10Pregnant.
25:10No.
25:11Yeah.
25:13I sort of just had a funny feeling and then...
25:15Yeah, did one test.
25:18Two lines.
25:19And then I did another test and it said two lines as well.
25:21And I was like...
25:23Fuck.
25:33I'm Susan Davey.
25:35I am the CEO of Southwest Water.
25:37Basically the wet weather events...
25:39Overflow...
25:40Put a strain on our Victorian networks.
25:42And, unfortunately, we have a Victorian sewage system which we have inherited and that means things do go wrong.
25:51Did you say Victorian sewage network?
25:53Twelve percent.
25:55Twelve...
25:55Twelve percent?
25:56What's twelve percent?
25:58Twelve percent of the sewage system is Victorian.
26:00What do they tell you?
26:02That the whole of the system was Victorian so that meant that the investment would be so high that it'd
26:09be impossible to actually fix it all.
26:11Bollocks.
26:12Shall I tell you what stopped it?
26:15When privatisation came in, they just stopped spending.
26:17After the war, they kept upgrading.
26:19Then after privatisation came in, they just stopped.
26:24Not just Thames, all of them.
26:26Six percent new plants is privatisation.
26:29Six percent?
26:30Six percent.
26:31Is that all?
26:31You know what would be good?
26:32If we could maybe come and visit one of the works?
26:35I don't know about that.
26:36Well...
26:37I'd have to see, lads, honestly, because even just doing this, I feel a bit nervous.
26:42Fucking London Stadium.
26:43That's not a proper stadium.
26:45Fucking massive.
26:46Upton Park, now that was a proper stadium, mate.
26:48London Stadium's too big, you fucking binoculars, you know what I mean?
26:51Yeah.
26:52Sorry, Pete, did you want to see an EDM?
26:54Oh, yes, yes, that's fine.
26:55Well remembered.
26:56So this is an event duration monitor.
26:59Now, we fitted one of these on every sewage pipe in England.
27:03In 2012, right, the coalition government, they ordered all the water companies to record how much time they spend
27:10dumping raw sewage.
27:12These little units, they measure how much poo goes into the river by hours.
27:16Management have been dragging their feet for eight years now.
27:20But we're finally getting most of it in now.
27:22And the agency, they've got to publish their numbers.
27:25They have to, by law.
27:26They're not going to like it, but tough shit.
27:30EDMs.
27:32Yes.
27:35So, we are finalizing plans for the statutory publication of the EDM numbers.
27:44As you know, there have been some technical delays, but it looks like they're almost ready.
27:52And they're going to come as a bit of a shock.
27:57The data is going to show that the water companies discharged raw sewage 400,000 times in 2020.
28:06That's 1,100 times a day for a total of 3.1 million hours.
28:17That's a bit of a shocker.
28:18Can I just say that since operator self-monitoring, we've had to rely on the water companies to report back
28:26to us.
28:26I think that the key here is that this doesn't get framed as a failure of regulation.
28:32That would be quite wrong.
28:35And I think managing comms on this is going to be key.
28:38And we are working actively with the water companies to bear down on the problem.
28:46Yeah.
28:46But that's 1,100 criminal offences a day.
28:50Well, that's actually debatable because that depends on the terms of the permits and the circumstances around each spill.
28:57Yeah.
28:58And we know the legislation permits discharging after heavy rainfall.
29:02No, it doesn't.
29:04Sorry, Hannah.
29:05The law doesn't say that you can just dump sewage after heavy rain.
29:09It says that in all normal climatic and seasonal circumstances, the water companies have to treat the sewage, not just
29:16dump it.
29:17But it's not the agency's job to adjudicate legal matters.
29:20I mean, this is actually a matter for the courts.
29:23No, no, no.
29:24This is our job.
29:25It's our job to enforce the law.
29:28Yeah.
29:29That's what we're here to do.
29:35Can you...
29:36Did you want to...
29:37No, no.
29:38You finish off here, Sophie.
29:43So we've identified the problem and now we work on the problem.
29:45Yeah.
29:46Which is reframing and owning the narrative.
29:48Yeah.
29:48We don't want this to get misconstrued as some sort of failure on our part because it just isn't.
29:52Thanks.
29:53Yeah.
29:53Thanks so much.
29:55Thanks.
29:56Cool.
29:57Lovely.
29:57Thanks, guys.
29:58Thanks so much.
29:59By the way, um...
30:02So...
30:03I've heard you're going to give evidence in Parliament.
30:05Yes.
30:06Yes.
30:06Amazing.
30:07Yeah, I think you're bad.
30:09What does that mean, thinking about it?
30:11He's, er...
30:11He's nervous.
30:13Not nervous.
30:14He's nervous.
30:14No, it's not that I'm nervous.
30:16I want to do it.
30:17It's just...
30:18It's difficult.
30:19Hey.
30:19Don't worry about it.
30:20I'll...
30:21Yeah.
30:21We're counting on you.
30:22We are really counting on you.
30:23And you can explain it in a scientific way.
30:25You're going to come across brilliantly.
30:26They're going to believe you, mate.
30:28Well, it...
30:30It's not really as simple as that, I mean...
30:32The boys from Ogden called me earlier, right?
30:34Mm-hmm.
30:34They told me that they dumped two billion litres of sewage in the Thames over two days.
30:40Environment Agency haven't got a Scooby.
30:42Did they send you the data?
30:43I've got the data, yeah.
30:44Can you send that to us?
30:45I will send it to you.
30:46We're not going to let you down.
30:48It makes sense.
30:48Please.
30:49You can do this.
30:50Come on, Pete.
30:52You're a legend, mate.
30:53Come on.
31:03We now have the lowest number of serious pollution incidents from water companies that we have yet recorded.
31:11I mean...
31:12More water companies are now at the highest level of performance.
31:16What we call four-star performance.
31:19I mean, we now have the lowest number of serious pollution incidents from water companies that we have yet recorded.
31:54I'm an Environment Officer.
31:55I'm an Environment Officer.
31:55I'm an Environment Officer at the agency.
31:56I investigate sewage pollution.
32:01When I first joined, it wasn't a job to get rich on.
32:07I could see I was making a difference.
32:12Corporations want to make money.
32:13We make sure that they don't poison the rivers doing it.
32:17We could investigate, prosecute, whatever it took.
32:22But then they told the companies that they could regulate themselves.
32:27Let's upraise the self-monitoring.
32:29Exactly.
32:31Then came the Cameron Cuts, then the Trust Cuts.
32:35They laid off investigators, slashed prosecutions.
32:39I mean, they even took our cars off of us so we couldn't visit pollution sites.
32:42So all these cuts meant you couldn't do your job properly?
32:46That's not it.
32:49In 2021, Sir James hiked the prices the water companies paid for their permits.
32:55It was called charge-funded regulation.
32:58We get 96 million from the government.
33:01We are now pulling in 411 million from charges.
33:06All these cuts, they're just a smokescreen.
33:10We're swimming in cash.
33:13I am doing this because I know that it is wrong.
33:16And it has ruined my whole working life.
33:23Good luck.
33:24Good luck.
33:36Right.
33:40Fucking hell.
33:42What should we do?
33:43Well, first we read them.
33:46And then I think we should call some journalists.
33:50The Environment Agency has refused to comment on whether agency directors currently hold shares in UK water companies.
33:58The agency claimed it would break data protection laws if it disclosed the information.
34:03Environment Agency chiefs secretly held a series of private dinners with water company bosses at the Royal Automobile Club in
34:11central London.
34:12Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act showed the meetings were held to discuss how to quell public anger
34:18over sewage.
34:19As the sewage scandal deepens, Environment Agency CEO Sir James Bevan has been called to give evidence to a parliamentary
34:26committee.
34:27Well, we need to talk about what we say in public and the responsibilities we have.
34:33You have a duty not to openly criticise or discredit the organisation in the media or on social media.
34:43Or to disclose confidential information to anyone not authorised to receive it.
34:51If your comments, inside or outside work, impact on the agency's reputation by making derogatory comments about the organisation, or
34:59your managers,
35:00or you make comments that bring the organisation into disrepute,
35:04you may be subject to disciplinary action.
35:08And in more serious cases, dismissal.
35:28I don't think I want to do this.
35:30You'll be fine.
35:32Need the toilet?
35:34I'm alright.
35:35I need a bloody toilet.
35:37Do you want a pie?
35:39What does that mean?
35:43Well, um...
35:44My garden is an island which the Windrush wraps around.
35:52I've watched it closely for 18 years, and I watched the water turn brown.
35:58I led a team of scientists using a machine learning analysis of two sewage treatment works run by Thames Water.
36:07One of those works, the Environment Agency said, over 10 years, only two pollution incidents have been reported.
36:17Our machine learning analysis showed hundreds of illegal spills.
36:26More than 300 lasted 24 hours, and some longer than 10 days, and some for a month.
36:37Have you shown this evidence to the Environment Agency?
36:40Well, we are. I've shown the evidence, like, many times.
36:44What usually happens is that they say that they show a sign of interest, but then nothing happens.
36:54We work very closely with Professor Hammond of Windrush against sewage pollution.
37:01We have a regular and very fruitful dialogue with him.
37:05You've worked closely with Professor Hammond.
37:09He and Ashley Smith sent you at least 13 emails detailing evidence of illegal sewage dumping.
37:17He published five evidence reports documenting water company criminality, all of which were sent to you or your senior colleagues.
37:26They invited you to come and look at the river in 2019, and the following year sent you an email
37:34with the heading Environment Agency Complicit in Law Breaking.
37:45They never heard back.
37:46You never once replied in five years.
37:51How did you manage to work so closely with Professor Hammond when you never once spoke to him?
37:55At the Thames Water Mogdon Treatment Works, there was a spill of 240 Olympic swimming pools of sewage in a
38:07single day.
38:08The existing monitoring failed to pick that up.
38:11Now, why was that?
38:12There will always be times when something happens, usually accidentally, but if we find that a water company has breached
38:22its permit, we will take appropriate action.
38:26Does appropriate action include prosecuting water company executives?
38:30Prosecution is a very high bar, but where we think that's appropriate, we wouldn't hesitate.
38:38Did you prosecute in this case?
38:40No.
38:41Have you ever prosecuted any water company executives?
38:45No, but if we thought the evidence warranted it, we wouldn't hesitate.
38:53Last year, you told this committee that you became aware of sewage thumping in May 2021.
38:58Yes.
38:59But three weeks after that, you told the committee that the water companies were improving, and that more of them
39:05were getting four out of four stars.
39:08Why were you telling the committee that the water companies were doing a four-star job?
39:15Well, you've quoted everything I said.
39:19I think I stand by everything I said.
39:23I think you'll find them mutually consistent.
39:28The agency's job is to make sure water companies obey the criminal law, but it doesn't do it, and the
39:35water companies do whatever they want.
39:37The alleged crimes of their directors are never prosecuted.
39:43They've built criminality into their business models because pollution is highly profitable and repeat offending has no consequences.
39:52Therefore, in the light of the remarkable absence of any counter-corruption measures, we demand an investigation into the Environment
40:01Agency.
40:05The key test for me on regulation.
40:07Less regulation.
40:08Is it something that enables the builders, not the blockers?
40:11Cut guidance by 80%.
40:13We've also got to look at regulation.
40:15Regulations will go.
40:17And where it is needlessly holding back the investment.
40:19Reduce the amount and the burden of regulation.
40:22Rip out the bureaucracy that blocks investment.
40:25Northumbria and water recorded 30.1 spills per overflow over the course of 2023.
40:30280,000 hours and change in total.
40:35The chief executive, Heidi Mottram, received a bonus of £234,000 that year.
40:43Why did you take for altercates from the parent company?
40:47Well, I didn't.
40:49Okay.
40:50C.K. Hutchins Holdings owns 75% of Chung Kong Infrastructure Holdings, the owner of Northumbria
40:55and Water.
40:56And you declared £2,000 in football tickets and hospitality.
41:00On that occasion, there was nobody from a water company that was involved in offering those tickets.
41:06There was nobody from a water company at that event.
41:08Well, I wouldn't have known that.
41:10They weren't present.
41:10Why didn't you know?
41:11You should have known that.
41:11You said that these sort of people should potentially be in the dock if they have been willing to break
41:16the rules.
41:17Because you took £2,000 in tickets and hospitality for a football match from bosses linked to
41:22that company that polluted that water.
41:25Why should people in Northumbria think that you're fit for your job?
41:28Well, I certainly wouldn't have known that.
41:29And judge me by what I did.
41:30Why not?
41:30Judge me by what I did.
41:31No, that is what you did.
41:44Environment Minister Steve Reid is pursuing legal action against a group of anglers trying
41:50to restore the ecosystem of their local river on the grounds that cleaning up individual
41:56rivers is administratively unworkable.
41:59Concerns are being raised about the number of leading labour figures with links to lobbying
42:03firms working for water companies.
42:05Among the invited guests at the government's international investment summit was Macquarie
42:10Bank, described as the vampire kangaroo by critics, Macquarie presided over the near collapse
42:16of Thames Water, leaving it £10 billion in debt after having illegally dumped billions
42:22of litres of raw sewage.
42:40Reuben?
42:48I know I can't be left alone with her.
42:54I know that...
42:54...privatised water is a better deal than nationalised water.
42:58Come on, Blueby.
42:59That the water privatisation, I believe will go very successfully indeed.
43:04It will go very successfully indeed.
43:07And perhaps, therefore, we have better wait and see...
43:10...so that we can contribute in the light of the fact.
43:13How did it come to this?
43:16How did it...
43:18How did it happen that...
43:19that England is the only place in the whole world
43:24whose water system is wholly privatised,
43:30that our seas and our rivers are full of shite.
43:35I just feel like we're trying to bring down
43:38England's biggest organised crime syndicate.
43:44I mean, they're not the mafia, these water companies.
43:47They're not a drugs cartel, but they do.
43:49Dump sewage a thousand times a day.
43:54And almost all of those are illegal.
43:57And the cash they've accumulated,
44:01£145 billion since privatisation,
44:05and they've got that because they seem to have built criminality
44:08into their business models.
44:11So they are like an organised crime syndicate.
44:16And the CEOs and the owners are like crime bosses.
44:21I mean, they don't murder people, obviously.
44:24They're not assassins.
44:28But me and Peter are sitting here, waiting for these crime lords to put things right.
44:36And if we leave them to their own devices, they never will.
44:46We've put the things that we own and care about together,
44:51we've put them into the hands of financial speculators,
44:54whose job it is, is just to make money.
44:58We need to put the people who care in charge.
45:02Thanks a great motel.
45:02Thanks a lot.
45:02Don't put the people who really just have,
45:03we mean, generally that the folks who know others
45:03You know you know what they're using
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