Some campaigners for cleaner waters told the BBC they were disappointed.
Many pointed out that there is already widespread rule-breaking in the water industry and said the real issue was a failure of the water regulator, Ofwat, and the Environment Agency to enforce them properly.
Earlier this year a BBC investigation revealed that in 2022 every major English water company reported discharges of raw sewage when the weather was dry – a practice which is potentially illegal.
“If the secretary of state believes that the few one-off actions announced today, such as curtailing bosses’ bonuses however appealing they may sound are going to fix the underlying causes of our poisoned waterways, then he needs to think again,” Charles Watson of River Action said.
He told the BBC Today Programme: “Finally after years of denial over the whole scandal of the pollution of our rivers lakes and seas we’ve got a government of the day acknowledging the scale of the problem.
“But sadly what we’ve got today is basically a long list of measures that is going to cost the government nothing. They are not really going to fix anything because it’s the system that is broken.”
Regarding the threat of jail, Mr Watson said, reflecting on one of the proposed measures listed by the government: “It’s threatening to send them to prison if they obstruct an investigation into lawbreaking, so that’s pretty random. I don’t think anyone will be going to prison.”
The Conservatives said the proposed measures were “simply playing politics”.
“Labour are attempting to pass off measures implemented under the Conservatives – like banning bonuses for water company bosses whose companies who commit serious breaches – as their own,” said shadow environment minister Robbie Moore.
The Liberal Democrats said in a statement: “On the surface, this new bill simply doesn’t look up to scratch to tackling the sewage scandal that has plagued our nation’s rivers and waterways.
“Only a complete overhaul of this disgraced industry and a tough new regulator will end the sewage crisis.”
Decades of under-investment has left sewage infrastructure frequently unable to cope with the volume of rainwater and sewage, which then leads to spilling.
Last year the cumulative spills across England’s sewage network added up to 3.6 million hours. Only 14% of England’s rivers are assessed to have good ecological status.
Responding to the new legislation a spokesman for Water UK, which represents the water companies, said it agreed the system was “not working”.
They called on the regulator Ofwat to back its £105bn five-year investment plan for water and sewage infrastructure.
That will ultimately have to be paid for through higher customer bills, and negotiations are continuing with Ofwat as to how much companies will be allowed to put them up by.
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