- 8 minutes ago
Dirty Business S01E03 (2026)
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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.
00:38Bring it back!
00:43Bring!
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.
01:57Okay.
02:13Oh, my God.
02:29Oh, my God.
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, they can see the emails you write,
03:21your messages, your passwords, etc., everything.
03:24But they build it so you don't know it's there.
03:26What did the police say?
03:29Well, an officer came out, he took a sample of the blood, there was some blood on the
03:34handle downstairs, and he thought he could see a disposable glove mark in it, which means
03:39that whoever did it wants to make sure they're untraceable.
03:42He did think they could find a DNA result, and 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...
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?
04:10I don't know.
04:11Could it be a burglar who just got scared and legged it?
04:14Yeah, well, or he could have just seen Charlotte's Hawaiian Cushions.
04:18Don't say that in front of Joe.
04:20I'm not going to do that, I don't know, I 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, I hung up.
04:35Just to...
04:36Yeah, I just think that what we need now is we need, 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.
05:00No, 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.
06:05He's time poor.
06:06Yeah.
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
06:13at Borton.
06:14The combined storm overflow.
06:15Yeah.
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 a geological fault.
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 fault.
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.
07:21Yeah.
07:22But you've had 92 complaints from the general public about sewage pollution.
07:27Well, that's just the wind rush.
07:29I've actually got the breakdown here.
07:32Yeah, yeah.
07:35In 36 of those cases, there was no offence.
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 wind rush.
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, and all we get back is it's under investigation.
08:04And then nothing, nothing, nothing ever happens.
08:09In exceptional circumstances, for example, after heavy rain, the sewage systems are allowed to overflow.
08:15No.
08:16No, 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 have 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.
08:31No, it's not a grey area with respect.
08:33It's the law.
08:33Sorry.
08:34Can 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?
08:58Why would they lie to you?
09:18Why would they lie to you?
09:20Why would they lie to you?
09:23Sorry?
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 Trust gutted the agency, we went from regulating the industry to doing its bidding.
09:41Do you think we could take your number and-
09:43Do not 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 we've now identified those 3 000
09:59regulations that we're going to scrap let's reduce the amount and the burden of regulation
10:03strangled by retaining back uh the health and safety monster guidance by 80 and we reduce farm
10:09inspections by 34 000 every year regulations will gutter my ministers could introduce a regulation
10:15unless they abolished one at the same time massively reduce the number of rules laws and
10:20regulations that frankly treat all of you like idiots
10:27so really it's about stripping out as much unnecessary regulation as possible and taking
10:34responsibility for climate change and saying what more can we do to get us to net zero as you know
10:41this is a passion project for sir james who feels that we can bring our car usage down by 70
10:50percent
10:51yeah it's yeah so from next month we're going to be taking the bold decision to cut back decisively on
11:00our car leases yeah sorry just like to clarify what you you're going to get rid of our cars so
11:12it's
11:12about reducing the agency's carbon footprint just getting that yeah go ahead hannah the cars that we
11:21drive to the inspections in right yeah so so self-monitoring and and a more desk-based regulation
11:28is really it's really helping us move the needle on climate change
11:35but the room the remaining inspections yeah how do we get to those without a car yeah
11:45it's a great question it's a really great question and we'll take that forward to the next discussion
11:50meeting thanks hannah yeah lovely thanks everyone not easy news to break is it
11:55that's a surprise debbie's got something to say i know i know i know but my car everyone's driving
12:00cars we're the environment agency absolutely what's wrong with the train i'll keep mine i think so yeah
12:04yeah coffee does anybody know what we're looking at anybody okay could you tell me what the reactants are
12:17so if you move your head even slightly the vertical gets more intense yeah and the attacks happening
12:23maybe twice a week about that yeah
12:29the good news is that you don't have cancer we actually think it's meniere's it's a disease of the
12:35inner ear the main symptom is acute vertical episodes vomiting tinnitus it's a pretty neat fit with your
12:44presentation
12:48they were dumping sewage in the water uh the last time before i got sick right uh you know that
12:56from
12:56the surface against your jab okay might that be the causes are unclear it's post-viral this often starts
13:06with an ear infection you know that they're common in surface yeah every surfer i know
13:13this is a chronic condition i'm afraid there's no cure
13:34so
13:38should we leave the table away just hold his back
14:08So, by ending on-site inspections into categories three and four,
14:14no or low-impact pollution events, and doubling down on the more serious category one and two 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 three and four.
14:32Any questions?
14:34Well, yeah.
14:37A category three 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 categories threes and fours.
14:59So, they're not actually reporting a serious incident.
15:01And so, if the water companies are only reporting threes and fours,
15:05and we're no longer allowed to investigate threes and fours...
15:08So, what exactly 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,
15:25and to not report them as pollution incidents.
15:28Is that clear?
15:33Yeah.
15:34Yeah. Thank you. Thanks, everyone.
15:35You're on with your day?
15:36Yeah.
15:44What the...
15:47We had to fuck.
15:49Fucking wonkers.
15:50How 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.
16:23Look at that.
16:24Look at that.
16:25Look at that.
16:26I'll get some shots and we'll call the agency on the way back.
16:29I don't know.
17:09I 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.
18:22I couldn't tell Sophie.
18:23I couldn't tell Sophie.
18:23I couldn't tell Sophie anything.
18:25Okay.
18:41Hi.
18:55Hi, is that Justine?
18:57Hi, Justine.
18:59It's Hannah from the Environment Agency.
19:04Listen, it's about the pollution event at Hawkrise.
19:09It came through the system at a duration of 1.34 hours,
19:13and I'm here now, and it's still going.
19:18Yeah, 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 do anything.
21:05I can't award you personal independence payment.
21:08I don't know what to do.
21:09If you need further guidance about how to appeal,
21:12you can use the web chat to get some help.
21:15If you cannot access the web chat,
21:17you can contact the Benefits Appeal helpline on 0300...
21:31Hannah.
21:32Sorry. Sorry.
21:33I 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 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.
22:03It'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.
35:24Thank you for your work.
35:24I'm your work.
35:24It's one of those five agents.
35:26Over the last, over the last ten years.
35:29I 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, my garden is an island,
35:47which the Windrush wraps around.
35:52I've watched it closely for 18 years
35:55and I watched the water turn brown.
35:58I led a team of scientists
36:00using a machine learning analysis
36:03of two sewage treatment works run by Tense Water.
36:07One of those works, the Environment Agency said
36:11over 10 years, only two pollution incidents
36:15have been reported.
36:16Our machine learning analysis
36:21showed hundreds of illegal spills.
36:26More than 300 lasted 24 hours
36:29and some longer than 10 days
36:34and some for a month.
36:37Have you shown this evidence to the Environment Agency?
36:40Well, we are. I've shown the evidence many times.
36:43What usually happens is that they...
36:47they say that they show a sign of interest
36:50but then nothing happens.
36:54We work very closely with Professor Hammond
36:58of Windrush against sewage pollution.
37:01We have a regular and very fruitful dialogue with him.
37:06You worked closely with Professor Hammond?
37:09He and Ashley Smith sent you at least 13 emails
37:14detailing evidence of illegal sewage dumping.
37:17He published five evidence reports
37:20documenting water company criminality,
37:23all of which were sent to you or your senior colleagues.
37:26They invited you to come and look at the river in 2019
37:31and the following year sent you an email with the heading
37:35Environment Agency complicit in lawbreaking.
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
37:54when you never once spoke to him?
37:56At the Thames Water Modern Treatment Works,
37:59there was a spill of 240 Olympic swimming pools of sewage
38:06in a single day.
38:08The existing monitoring failed to pick that up.
38:11Now, why was that?
38:13There will always be times when something happens,
38:17usually accidentally.
38:19But if we find that a water company has breached its permit,
38:24we will take appropriate action.
38:26Does appropriate action include prosecuting water company executives?
38:30Prosecution is a very high bar, but...
38:34Where we think that's appropriate, we wouldn't hesitate.
38:38Did you prosecute in this case?
38:40No.
38:42Have you ever prosecuted any water company executives?
38:45No, but if we thought the evidence warranted it,
38:50we wouldn't hesitate.
38:53Last year, you told this committee
38:54that you became aware of sewage dumping in May 2021.
38:58Yes.
38:58But three weeks after that,
39:01you told the committee that the water companies were improving
39:03and that more of them were getting four out of four stars.
39:08Why were you telling the committee
39:10that the water companies were doing a four-star job?
39:15Well, you've quoted everything I said.
39:20I 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
39:31the water companies obey the criminal law,
39:34but it doesn't do it,
39:35and the water companies do whatever they want.
39:38The alleged crimes of their directors
39:40are never prosecuted.
39:44They've built criminality into their business models
39:47because pollution is highly profitable
39:49and repeat offending has no consequences.
39:53Therefore,
39:54in the light of the remarkable absence
39:56of any counter-corruption measures,
39:58we demand an investigation
40:00into the Environment Agency.
40:05The key test for me on regulation...
40:07Less regulation!
40:08Is it something that enables the builders,
40:10not the blockers?
40:11Cut guidance by 80%.
40:13We've also got to look at regulation.
40:15Regulations will go...
40:17...and 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
40:28over the course of 2023.
40:31280,000 hours and change in total.
40:35The chief executive, Heidi Mottram,
40:38received a bonus of ÂŁ234,000 that year.
40:43Why did you take football tickets
40:45from the parent company?
40:48Well, I didn't.
40:49OK.
40:50C.K. Hutchins Holdings
40:51owns 75% of Chong Kong Infrastructure Holdings,
40:54the owner of Northumbria and Water.
40:56And you declared ÂŁ2,000
40:58in football tickets and hospitality.
41:00On that occasion,
41:01there was nobody from a water company
41:03that was involved in offering those tickets.
41:06There was nobody from a water company
41:07at that event.
41:08I wouldn't have known that.
41:10They weren't present.
41:11You said that these sort of people
41:13should potentially be in the dock
41:15if they have been willing to break the rules.
41:17You took ÂŁ2,000 in tickets and hospitality
41:20for a football match
41:21from bosses linked to that company
41:23that polluted that water.
41:25Why should people in Northumbria
41:26think that you're fit for the dock?
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
41:46is pursuing legal action
41:48against a group of anglers
41:49trying to restore the ecosystem
41:51of their local river
41:53on the grounds
41:54that cleaning up individual rivers
41:56is administratively unworkable.
41:59Concerns are being raised
42:00about the number of leading labour figures
42:02with links to lobbying firms
42:03working for water companies.
42:05Among the invited guests
42:06at the government's
42:07international investment summit
42:09was Macquarie Bank.
42:10Described as the vampire kangaroo
42:13by critics,
42:14Macquarie presided over
42:16the near collapse of Thames Water,
42:17leaving it ÂŁ10 billion in debt
42:19after having illegally dumped
42:21billions of litres of raw sewage.
42:40Reuben?
42:44Reuben?
42:48I know I can't be left alone with her.
42:54Privatised water is a better deal
42:57than nationalised water.
42:58Come on, Blue.
42:59That the water privatisation,
43:01I believe,
43:02will go very successfully indeed.
43:05That will go very successfully indeed.
43:07And perhaps, therefore,
43:08we have better wait and see
43:09so that we can participate
43:11in the light of the facts.
43:13How did it come to this?
43:16How did it happen
43:19that England is the only place
43:22in the whole world
43:24whose water system
43:25is wholly privatised?
43:29That our seas and our rivers
43:32are full of shite?
43:35I just feel like we're trying
43:37to bring down
43:38England's biggest organised crime syndicate.
43:43I mean, they're not the mafia,
43:46these water companies.
43:47They're not a drugs cartel,
43:48but they do dump sewage
43:51a thousand times a day.
43:53And almost all of those
43:55are illegal.
43:57And the cash
43:58they've accumulated,
44:01ÂŁ145 billion
44:02since privatisation,
44:05and they've got that
44:05because they seem to have built
44:07criminality
44:08into their business models.
44:11So they are like
44:13an organised crime syndicate.
44:16And the CEOs
44:17and the owners
44:19are like crime bosses.
44:21I mean, they don't murder people,
44:23obviously.
44:24They're not assassins.
44:28But me and Peter
44:29are sitting here
44:30waiting
44:30for these crime lords
44:33to put things right.
44:35And
44:37if we leave them
44:38to their own devices,
44:40they never will.
44:43They never will.
44:46We've put the things
44:47that we own
44:48and care about
44:50together,
44:51we've put them
44:52into the hands
44:53of financial speculators,
44:54whose job it is
44:56is just
44:56to make money.
44:58We need to put the people
45:00who care
45:00in charge.
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