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Dirty Business - Season 1 - Episode 03: The Whistleblower
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00:03I'm not sure if I'm gonna come in really yeah you'll be fine because you're drowning
00:13or maybe you try it for a bit I'll go first
00:17it's looking good it's looking rough it's a scabby cat I'm not sure
00:24I'm fine see you
00:51no prints
00:55nothing 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
01:11well I really thought there was enough for a full sample
01:14apparently 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
01:26and nothing was touched
01:27no
01:30or they put everything back in its place which is what you would do if you were installing a listening
01:34device I've applied for warrants to do exactly that
01:37you're a copper serious crime squad covert surveillance unit counter corruption
01:42I'm innocent
01:45well I mean as you know we've done a couple of sweeps
01:53nothing
01:55no me neither
01:56so um
01:58you know there's not much more we can do
02:02okay
02:02I mean as you know there's not much more we can do
02:29no
02:29no
02:29Oh, God.
03:06You've worked in surveillance, haven't you, for years, so you're telling me you can't
03:11actually see if they've got in your computer or not?
03:14No. I've done what I can to check, but you just can't tell now. You see, there's this
03:22incognito spyware runs a keylogger in the background, which means they can record every
03:26key you press, every mouse click, they can see the emails you write, your messages, your
03:30passwords, etc., everything. But they build it so you don't know it's there.
03:35What did the police say? Well, an officer came out, he took a sample of the blood, there was
03:42some blood on the handle downstairs, and he thought he could see a disposable glove mark
03:48in it, which means that whoever did it wants to make sure they're untraceable. He did think
03:52they could find a DNA result, and then nothing, nothing happens.
03:58What do you think this is? Anything they can find to discredit us. Something that would look
04:04good on the cover of the Daily Mail, for example. I mean, I can't think of anything that, you
04:09know, I mean, um... Well, you know what it is. What's that? It's the Free Jazz. If that gets
04:16out, we're fucked. Oh, fuck off. But who would want to discredit us? I don't know. It could
04:23be a burglar who just got scared and legged it. Yeah, well, or he could have just seen
04:29Jala's Hawaiian Cushions. Don't say that in front of Jala. I'm not going to do that, am I? I want
04:33to hang on to my balls.
04:36You know, the other day when this happened, the first thing I did was pick up the phone
04:43to you. Yeah, no, I did see it, yeah. You probably saw it. I hung up. Just to...
04:49Yeah, I just think that what we need now is we need, um... We need a whistleblower, don't
04:56we? And we need someone from inside the agency. And high up. From the top, yeah.
05:05Eileen said that we must be making a difference. Did she? Yeah, she did. So, come on, let's,
05:10um... That's the point, isn't it? Yeah, we are. There's no point doing this unless we make
05:13a difference. No, let's keep going. Let's keep going and let's find that fucking whistleblower.
05:18Right. June 2019. Sir James Bevan Environment Agency. Dear Sir James, I'm writing to your office
05:26as I'm sure you will know where to direct the question. October 2019. Dear Sir James,
05:32I wrote to you to raise concerns about a serious integrity issue involving the agency. Dear Sir
05:38James, 34 days have now passed since I sent you evidence. I've given up expecting a reply from
05:44you.
05:47Dear Ashley, I am in the seat of your email to Sir James. Would you mind coming to our office
05:58office? And would the 19th suit? Is Sir James not coming?
06:14I'm afraid not. No, Sir James wouldn't routinely attend meetings at this kind of level. I'd hoped
06:19he'd be here. He's time for. Yeah. He's aware of your work. Well, uh, well, we're trying to find
06:25out, um, what you're going to do about the illegal, uh, sewage overflow at Borton. The combined storm
06:32overflow. Yeah. The combined storm overflow at Burton has shown no detectable effects on the water
06:38quality. The water quality is stable and not deteriorating. I mean, our data shows very clearly
06:43that we have the best quality water since the industrial revolution.
06:49The water's turned brown. Yeah. It's turned so brown that when it joins the Thames at Newbridge,
06:55it makes the Thames look like a Swiss mountain stream.
06:59The water is brown in places, but that's a natural phenomenon. It's caused by a geological fault.
07:05So, a geological fault? Yeah. Yeah. Sorry, a geological fault is millions of years old.
07:12I mean, we remember when the water was clear. No one remembers the good old days before the
07:17geological fault. In the last 12 months since we installed sensors, there's been no evidence
07:22of pollution. Well, that's because you've installed the monitors upstream from the sewage pipes. Now,
07:27is that incompetence or an attempt to cover up a scandal? No, no. The agency would never position
07:32a monitor to achieve a particular reading. We are working extremely hard to transform the
07:36environment. We've improved and protected something like, I think it's 15,000 kilometres
07:41of river. But you've had 92 complaints from the general public about sewage pollution.
07:49Now, that's just the wind rush. I've actually got the breakdown here.
07:54Yeah, yeah. In, well, in 36 of those cases, there was no offence. And in 39, there was insufficient
08:05evidence. And in six, we were unable to identify the offender.
08:11Oh, what do you mean you couldn't identify the offenders? Why can't you identify the offenders?
08:15There's seven sewage works along the wind rush. They're all run by Thames Water. So, I mean,
08:19you say you've got insufficient evidence, but we keep giving you the evidence. All we ever do
08:23is give you the evidence. And all we get back is it's under investigation. And then nothing,
08:30nothing, nothing ever happens.
08:32In exceptional circumstances, for example, after heavy rain, the sewage systems are allowed to
08:38overflow. No, no, no, no. You see, that's not, that's not the law. The law is that in all normal
08:44climatic 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.
08:53The law is a grey area.
08:54No, no, it's not a grey area with respect. It's the law.
08:58Sorry, can I?
09:00Sorry.
09:00Right. Thames is that their own data, it shows they stopped treating sewage at Northleach for
09:10more than three months. Now, they told us that their sensors had broken down, but we think
09:17they're lying.
09:19They're lying. So why would they do that? Why would they lie to you?
09:24Why would they lie to you?
09:45We're Potemkin regulators.
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.
10:02When Cameron and Truss gutted the agency, we went from regulating the industry to doing
10:06its bidding.
10:09Do you think we could take your number?
10:11Look, just keep going.
10:15This is going to be the first government in modern history that at the end of its parliamentary
10:21term has less regulation in place than there was at the beginning. We've now identified
10:26those 3,000 regulations that we're going to scrap. Let's reduce the amount and the burden
10:31of regulation.
10:32Strangled by red tape.
10:33Cut back the health and safety monster.
10:36Cut 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
10:53like idiots.
10:57So really, it's about stripping out as much unnecessary regulation as possible and taking responsibility
11:05for climate change and saying, what more can we do to get us to net zero? As you know, this
11:13is a passion project for Sir James, who feels that we can bring our car usage down by 70%.
11:22Yeah. It's, yeah. So, from next month, we're going to be taking the bold decision to cut back
11:31decisively on our car leases.
11:36Yeah.
11:37Sorry.
11:39Just like to clarify what you're going to get rid of our cars.
11:44So it's about reducing the agency's carbon footprint. Just getting that, yeah.
11:50Yeah. Go ahead, Hannah.
11:52The cars that we drive to the inspections in.
11:56Right. Yeah. So, so self-monitoring and, and the more desk-based regulation is really,
12:02it's really helping us move the needle on climate change.
12:08What? The rem, the remaining inspections.
12:12Yeah. Well, yeah. How do we get to those without a car?
12:17Yeah.
12:19It's a great question. It's a really great question. And we'll take that forward to the
12:24next discussion meeting. Thanks, Hannah.
12:27Yeah, lovely. Thanks, everyone. Great.
12:29Not easy news to break, is it? I don't think it's...
12:41Mmm, coffee. How do I get a coffee?
12:44Does anybody know what we're looking at?
12:47Anybody?
12:50Okay. Could 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?
13:01About that, yeah.
13:05The good news is that you don't have cancer. We actually think it's Meniere's. It's a disease
13:12of the inner ear. The main symptom is acute vertigo episodes, vomiting, tinnitus. It's
13:20a pretty neat fit with your presentation.
13:25They were dumping sewage in the water, uh, the last time before I got sick.
13:32Right. Uh, you know that from...
13:34The Surfers Against Sewage app.
13:36Okay.
13:38Um, might that be...
13:40The causes are unclear. It's post-viral. This often starts with an ear infection. You know,
13:45they're common in surfers.
13:47Yeah, um, every surfer I know.
13:48Oh, my God!
13:50Oh!
13:51What?
13:51This is a chronic condition. I'm afraid there's no cure.
14:18Should we leave the table away?
14:23Just hold his back.
14:24Just so he's alive in the back.
14:49So, by ending on-site inspections into categories three and four,
14:55no or low-impact pollution events,
14:58and doubling down on the more serious category one and two incidents,
15:04we think we can turn ourselves into a more effective fighting unit.
15:08Yeah. So, from today, we are ending on-site inspections for cats three and four.
15:14Any questions?
15:17Well, yeah.
15:20A category three incident can be two kilometres of sewage.
15:26We want you to not inspect, to not spend time on these incidents.
15:32Except that since the water companies have been self-reporting,
15:38they almost always only report categories threes and fours.
15:42So, they're not actually reporting the serious incidents.
15:45And so, if the water companies are only reporting threes and fours,
15:49and we're no longer allowed to investigate threes and fours.
15:52So, what exactly are we going to be doing?
15:55I've told the government, you get the regulation you pay for.
15:59We no longer have the money to go on inspecting low-grade pollution events.
16:04We need you to shut down these reports as unsubstantiated or to silently pass them
16:10and to not report them as pollution incidents.
16:13Is that clear?
16:19Yeah.
16:19Yeah.
16:20Thanks, everyone.
16:21You been on with your day?
16:22Yeah.
16:34We had to fuck.
16:36Fucking wankers.
16:36How are you going to get to fucking work?
16:39Fuck.
16:39Fuck nice.
16:41Horseback.
16:50What time did he call you?
16:52Half past ten last night.
16:55He said you couldn't miss it.
17:08Oh, my God, look at it.
17:15Get some shots and we'll call the agency on the way back.
17:41Something like that.
17:42Let's go.
17:51I'm not sure.
17:56I love you.
17:58I'm not sure.
17:59What do you mean?
17:59I'm not sure.
18:01You're not sure.
18:02I'm not sure.
18:02I'm not sure.
18:06You're not sure.
18:07You're not sure.
18:07I'm not sure.
18:44Debbie, are you driving into work tomorrow?
18:47Yeah, 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 Hawkrise, so I'm gonna go and take a look.
19:04Okay.
19:04A bit of freelance investigation. A bit of freelance.
19:08And also, he 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 couldn't tell Sophie?
19:17Have I seen her? I wouldn't tell Sophie anything.
19:19Okay.
19:20Okay.
19:25Okay.
19:49Hi.
19:50Hi.
19:51Is that, um, is that Justine?
19:53Hi, Justine.
19:55Um, it's, it's Hannah from the Environment Agency.
20:00Listen, it's about the, um, the pollution event at Hawkrise.
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, uh, 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
20:25that is covered over with dried sewage.
20:28I mean, there's, there's dead fish.
20:30You 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.
20:49Then I can't do anything.
20:51I 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,
21:02well, every few days for the past six months.
21:04But if, if you're not having one of your attacks,
21:06can you eat and drink unaided?
21:08Yeah, but...
21:09Yes or no is fine.
21:11Yes.
21:15Can 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.
21:37Not 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
21:50is zero points.
21:52Your total score for the mobility section is zero points.
21:56When you're not having an attack,
21:57you're able to do all the tasks I asked you about.
22:00I can't, that's...
22:00That's the thing with...
22:01You can wash and bathe.
22:02...my condition is that sometimes...
22:04You can...
22:04...I can do these things and other times I can't.
22:06And when I can't, I can't...
22:07I 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,
22:15you can use the web chat to get some help.
22:18If you cannot access the web chat,
22:20you can contact the benefits appeal helpline on 0300...
22:34Hannah.
22:35Oh, shit. Sorry. Sorry.
22:36I didn't mean to scare you.
22:37Um, do you have a second? Can I have a word?
22:40Of course.
22:41Yeah? Okay.
22:42So I've just...
22:42I just got off the phone to Justine Wright Phillips
22:45at the water company.
22:46Yeah.
22:47Yeah, she said...
22:48She said you called her.
22:49Yeah, I...
22:50Yeah, you...
22:51I did.
22:52Okay, she said you called her from the site.
22:55Well, I saw that it had been logged on the system for the fifth time
22:58and 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 Category 3.
23:08It's not a Category 3, Sophie.
23:11The river is dried over with excrement.
23:14Okay.
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...
23:23She says there's like a strong current and a high dispersal rate...
23:26The overflow pipe has been discharging for over 36 hours
23:29and 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.
23:38Okay?
23:39And Justine says that actually, really, the...
23:41Because of the high dispersal rate, that it should come down to a Category 4.
23:48Be a Category 4?
23:49Yes.
23:50Right.
23:50Mm-hmm.
23:53So, no impact on the environment, no action needed?
23:57Yes.
23:59Mm-hmm.
24:03Oh, you want me to change it on this system?
24:05Could you?
24:06Could you?
24:07Yeah?
24:08Okay, thanks so much.
24:10That's great.
24:11Lovely.
24:20So, you see how well we're doing?
24:22Yeah, of course.
24:23Are you joking?
24:24I'm not joking.
24:25You know SROIC?
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.
24:39Okay, yes.
24:39Sorry, yes.
24:40We don't have clients.
24:41But...
24:42So, 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, lobbing them, going mad,
24:56yeah, again, the charges are taken down.
24:58No.
24:59Not a peep.
25:00Not a...
25:00Not a peep.
25:01They'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, wait, hold on one minute.
25:16This is going a bit...
25:17So, you're saying that the water companies are funding the environment agency.
25:24Wow.
25:24That's what you're...
25:25Really, you see the...
25:26What's happening?
25:26You 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,
25:41Sir James said that you get the regulation that you pay for.
25:45Yeah.
25:45That we haven't got the money to do the investigations that we used to do.
25:49Nobody's paying for them.
25:51Okay.
25:51That's your area, isn't it?
25:53I mean, all I know is that we have got more cash
25:58than we've ever had before.
26:00Just making conversation.
26:05I've got the job.
26:06Postman?
26:07Mm-hmm.
26:07No?
26:08Yeah. Did 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.
26:27Yeah.
26:28I sort of just had a funny feeling, and then, yeah, did one test, two lines,
26:33and then I did another test, and it said two lines as well, and I was like, fuck.
26:48I'm Susan Davey.
26:50I am the CEO of Southwest Water.
26:53Yeah.
26:53That's basically the wet weather events.
26:55Storm.
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.
27:08Just say Victorian sewage network.
27:0912%.
27:1212%.
27:1212%.
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, it'd be good if we could maybe come and visit one of the works.
27:54I don't know about that.
27:54Well, 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 is too big.
28:09You fucking binoculars, do you know what I mean?
28:10Yeah.
28:11Sorry, Pete, did you want to see an EDM?
28:13Oh, yes, yes, that's right.
28:14Well, I remembered.
28:16So this is an event duration monitor.
28:19Now, we fitted one of these on every sewage pipe in England.
28:23But in 2012, right, the coalition government, they ordered all the water companies
28:28to record how much time they spend dumping raw sewage.
28:32These little units, they measure how much poo goes into the river by hours.
28:36Management 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.
28:51EDMs.
28:53Yes.
28:55So, 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.
29:19The data is 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 since operator self-monitoring, we've had to rely on the water companies to report back
29:50to 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.
30:00And I think managing comms on this is going to be key.
30:03And we are working actively with the water companies to bear down on the problem.
30:11Yeah.
30:11And...
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.
30:23And we know the legislation permits discharging after heavy rainfall and so...
30:28No, no, it doesn't.
30:30Sorry, Hannah.
30:30The 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.
30:51This 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...
31:04Did 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.
31:21Thanks, guys.
31:21Yeah, thanks.
31:22Thanks so much.
31:23Thanks.
31:24Cool.
31:26Lovely.
31:26Thanks, Isis.
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, thinking about it.
31:39What does that mean, thinking about it?
31:40He's, er, he's nervous.
31:42Not, not, 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, 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.
31:55You'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, I mean.
32:02The 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.
32:13Did they send you the data?
32:14I've got the data, yeah.
32:15Can you send that to us?
32:16I will send it to you.
32:17We're not going to let you down.
32:19It makes sense.
32:20Please.
32:20You 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.
32:48What 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.
32:58It looks like Natasha Harvey did.
33:08No, no, no.
33:10No please.
33:15Not too bad.
33:19There he is.
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-monstering.
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 so we couldn't visit pollution sites.
34:19So all these cuts meant you couldn't do your job properly?
34:23That's not it.
34:26In 2021, Sir James hiked the prices the water companies paid for their permits.
34:32It was called charge-funded regulation.
34:36We get $96 million from the government.
34:39We are now pulling in $411 million from charges.
34:44All 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.
35:20Fucking 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 currently hold shares in UK water companies.
35:39The agency claimed it would break data protection laws if it disclosed the information.
35:44Environment 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 space.
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
36:21in the media or 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 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?
37:28I don't think I want to do this.
37:29Well, um, my garden is a, uh, an island
37:33which the Windrush, um, wraps around.
37:38I've watched it closely for 18 years,
37:42and 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 Tentwater.
37:54One of those works, the Environment Agency,
37:58said over 10 years
38:00that only two pollution incidents had been reported.
38:04Our machine learning analysis,
38:09it showed hundreds of illegal spills.
38:13More than 300 lasted 24 hours,
38:18and some, uh, longer than 10 days,
38:23and some for a month.
38:25Have you shown this evidence to the Environment Agency?
38:29Uh, well, yeah, I've shown the evidence,
38:31like, many times.
38:33What usually happens is that they, uh,
38:36they 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 a regular and very fruitful dialogue with him.
38:56You 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,
39:22and 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
39:54of 240 Olympic swimming pools of sewage
39:59in a single day.
40:01The existing monitoring failed to pick that up.
40:04Now, 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,
40:31we wouldn't hesitate.
40:33Did you prosecute in this case?
40:35No.
40:36Have you ever prosecuted any water company executives?
40:40No, 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.
40:55But 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 that
41:06the water companies were doing a four-star job?
41:13Well, 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
41:28the water companies obey the criminal law,
41:31but 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.
41:41They've built criminality into their business models
41:45because pollution is highly profitable
41:47and repeat offending has no consequences.
41:51Therefore,
41:52in the light of the remarkable absence
41:55of any counter-corruption measures,
41:57we demand an investigation
41:58into the environment agency.
42:04The key test for me on regulation...
42:06Less 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
42:46from the parent company?
42:49Well, I didn't.
42:50OK.
42:51C.K. Hutchins Holdings owns 75% of Chungha,
42:54Hong Kong Infrastructure Holdings,
42:56the owner of Northumbria and Water.
42:57And you declared £2,000 in football tickets
43:00and hospitality.
43:01On that occasion,
43:03there was nobody from a water company
43:05that was involved in offering those tickets.
43:08There was nobody from a water company
43:09at that event.
43:10Well, I wouldn't have known that.
43:12They weren't present.
43:13You should have known that.
43:14You said that these sort of people
43:15should potentially be in the dock
43:17if they have been found to break the rules.
43:20You took £2,000 in tickets and hospitality
43:23for a football match from bosses linked
43:25to that company that polluted that water.
43:27Why should people in Northumbria
43:29think that you're fit for your job?
43:31Well, I certainly wouldn't have known that.
43:32And judge me by what I do.
43:33Why not?
43:33Judge me by what I do.
43:34That is what you did.
43:48Environment Minister Steve Reid
43:50is pursuing legal action
43:52against a group of anglers
43:54trying to restore the ecosystem
43:56of their local river
43:57on the grounds
43:58that cleaning up individual rivers
44:01is administratively unworkable.
44:04Concerns have been raised
44:05about the number of leading labour figures
44:07with links to lobbying firms
44:08working for water companies.
44:10Among the invited guests
44:11at the government's
44:12International Investment Summit
44:14was Macquarie Bank.
44:16Described as the vampire kangaroo
44:18by critics,
44:20Macquarie presided over the near collapse
44:22of Thames Water,
44:23leaving it £10 billion in debt
44:25after having illegally dumped
44:27billions of litres of raw sewage.
44:55I know I can't be left alone with her.
45:02privatised water is a better deal
45:04than nationalised water.
45:06Come on, Pluto, get out!
45:07That the water privatisation,
45:09I believe,
45:10will go very successfully indeed.
45:12That will go very successfully indeed.
45:15And perhaps there will be
45:16a better way to see
45:17so that we can pontificate
45:19in 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
45:31in the whole world
45:33whose water system
45:34is wholly privatised?
45:39That our seas and our rivers
45:42are full of shite?
45:45I just feel like we're trying
45:47to bring down England's
45:49biggest organised crime syndicate.
45:53I mean, they're not the mafia,
45:56these water companies.
45:57They're not a drugs cartel,
45:59but they do dump sewage
46:01a thousand times a day.
46:03And almost all of those
46:05are illegal.
46:06And the cash they've accumulated,
46:12£145 billion since privatisation,
46:15and they've got that
46:16because they seem to have built
46:18criminality into their business models.
46:22So they are like
46:24an organised crime syndicate.
46:28And the CEOs and the owners
46:30are like crime bosses.
46:32I mean, they don't murder people,
46:35obviously.
46:36They're not assassins.
46:40But me and Peter are sitting here
46:42waiting for these crime lords
46:45to put things right.
46:49And if we leave them
46:51to their own devices,
46:53they never will.
46:56They never will.
46:59We've put the things
47:00that we own
47:01and care about
47:03together,
47:05we've put them
47:06into the hands
47:06of financial speculators,
47:08whose job it is
47:09is just
47:10to make money.
47:12We need to put the people
47:13who care
47:15in charge.
47:18of a matter.
47:20And,
47:29we've put them
47:30together,
47:39Thank you.
47:39I don't know.
48:10I don't know.
48:40I don't know.
49:17I don't know.
49:44I don't know.
50:12I don't know.
50:44I don't know.
51:21I don't know.
51:24I don't know.
51:54I don't know.
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