The government has U-turned by deciding to put legal controls on water firms dumping raw sewage in the sea and rivers across the country despite recently forcing Tory MPs to vote down similar proposals.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) announced on Tuesday that the Environment Bill “will be further strengthened with an amendment that will see a duty enshrined in law to ensure water companies secure a progressive reduction in the adverse impacts of discharges from storm overflows”.

It comes after several Tory MPs faced a huge backlash from constituents and campaign groups after they voted down an amendment tabled by the Lords last week.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said: “Earlier this summer, the government published a new strategy for Ofwat mandating them to progressively reduce the discharge of sewage from storm overflows in the next pricing review.

“Following a debate in the House of Commons last week during the final stages of the Environment Bill, today we are announcing that we will put that commitment on a statutory footing with a new clause.”

During periods of heavy rain or storms, wastewater is released into rivers and coastal areas as a way to prevent sewers from becoming overloaded by sewage and rain then backing up into homes and businesses.

But the UK’s water infrastructure has been struggling to keep pace as climate change causes greater rainfall and the population continues to grow, meaning water firms are resorting to sewage outfalls more and more frequently.

Many people are confused by and distrust climate change information, poll suggests

COP26: Bleak climate report shows colossal challenge facing UN conference

‘No new pledges’: China announces how it will meet peaking carbon emissions by 2030

Earlier on Tuesday, the official Downing Street spokesman said the government agrees that “the current failure of water companies to adequately reduce sewage discharges is unacceptable”.

A post shared by Surfers Against Sewage (@surfersagainstsewage)

But he defended the government’s position to force MPs to vote down the original amendment as it remained “un-costed” and the initial assessments to fix the UK’s water infrastructure “are over £150bn”, resulting in taxpayers footing potentially thousands of pounds each.

However, Tory MPs have continued to face criticism from activists and campaign groups, which even prompted several to release statements defending their decision.

Raymond Simonds, a resident of Seaview on the Isle of Wight who has been campaigning for Southern Water to fix infrastructure causing increasingly frequent sewage dumps in the Solent, has welcomed the government U-turn.

He told Sky News that sewage outfalls near beaches and bathing water have become a concern for the local Isle of Wight economy, which heavily relies on tourism.

“In July, we had a particularly bad sewage dump,” added Mr Simonds, whose local MP Bob Sealy was among the Tory members who voted down the amendment.

⚠️Only 14% of UK rivers meet good ecological status ⚠️

Take action for the ocean – contact your MP today.#Sewage #EndSewagePollution 💩💩💩https://t.co/RWrmGwiAY2

“We have a sailing school and some of the mothers were so concerned about what they could see coming out of the pipes on the beach that they took their children out of the school.

“Especially in this day and age it is not acceptable and looking to the future we can’t allow this to continue.”

Mr Simonds said he was “delighted” by the government U-turn, adding that Southern Water has also now agreed to meet local residents and officials to address their concerns and priorities.

Luke Pollard MP, Labour’s shadow environment secretary, responded to the U-turn saying: “It should not have taken a public outcry for this government to take the scandal of raw sewage being discharged into our rivers seriously.

“Having spent the past few days defending their position, this screeching U-turn will do little to convince the public that the health of our rivers, rather than the health of Conservative polling, is at the forefront of ministers’ minds.

“The government still has no clear plan and no grip on the issue of raw sewage being pumped into our seas and rivers.”

Related posts:

Deaths in England were almost 30% higher last month than five-year average for January ‘Teachers know us better than an algorithm’: Students support exam grades decision ‘It didn’t hurt at all’: Queen urges people unsure about COVID jab to get vaccinated Animal rescue charity’s centres ‘at capacity’ due to lockdown puppies Roadmap on track: PM approves further easing of lockdown restrictions ‘Criminal gangs’ encouraging children into violence on Northern Ireland’s streets, say police UK trial of Oxford vaccine on children paused as regulator probes rare blood clots in adults Rail passengers told ‘not to travel’ on second day of disruption after cracks found on trains Newborn baby found dead in London canal Rail minister calls for ‘urgent plan’ from train operators as crack disruption continues Jail sentence for Star Hobson’s mother referred to Court of Appeal for being ‘unduly lenient’ Why judge rejected Prince Andrew’s bid to have lawsuit thrown out