Devon County Council is seeking support from neighbouring councils as it explores legal action against South West Water over ongoing concerns about sewage discharges and declining water quality across the county.
Devon is trying to enlist support of neighbouring councils as it investigates ways it can take legal action against the county’s water firm.
South West Water is being targeted by Devon County Council for potential litigation in relation to ongoing concerns about sewage discharges and water quality.
Even though the company was recently fined £1.9 million over the cryptosporidium outbreak in Brixham in 2024, Councillor Julian Brazil (Liberal Democrat, Kingsbridge), the leader of the council, claimed that the regulator Ofwat, the Environment Agency, and successive governments – including the coalition which featured his national political party – had “done nothing about” ongoing issues.
“We’re hoping to find the best way of taking legal action, and that other councils will follow suit, particularly Cornwall – hopefully other councils will join us,” Cllr Brazil revealed to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
South West Water said it “recognised concerns about water quality” but that it was investing £760 million to tackle storm overflows, with spills down in number and duration in the past year.
Cllr Brazil said there was “absolutely an appetite within the council and the Devon community” to take action, which he hoped would be echoed by other authorities, noting that he believed people would “understand why we would be prepared to spend an amount of money on taking legal action”.
“Lawyers are always slightly more reserved but my risk appetite is quite high for taking action as I just think everyone is fed up.”
At present, two potential avenues are being explored for the possible legal action; firstly Section 222 of the Local Government Act 1972, which allows local authorities to take action for the good of their residents; and the Water Act 1981, which Cllr Brazil claimed had “never been used” in the context he was hoping it could work for Devon.
“The Local Government Act is quite broad, and so if something is distressing to your residents or economy, then you are in a position to take legal action,” he said.
“And the Water Act, again, is quite far-reaching but it has never been used.”
Speaking just days after alerts had been issued to urge against people swimming in water areas around Dartmouth, including Warfleet Creek, Dartmouth Castle and Sugary Cove, due to a pollution incident at the Mayor’s Avenue pumping station, Cllr Brazil said he had not conversed with the water firm’s new boss, Keith Haslett.
But he stated he felt the success of a water company should not be judged on money, because there was “something so fundamentally wrong about that”, and therefore sympathised with efforts to bring water back into public ownership.
A spokesperson for South West Water said: “We recognise concerns about water quality in Devon and we continue to work proactively with councils to discuss our local plans and deliver improvements.
“We’re investing £760 million to tackle storm overflows and have reduced spills by 17 per cent in the last year, with spill duration down by 25 per cent. We know there is more to do but the data shows the plan is working.
“We are looking forward to the opportunity to discuss our multi-million-pound plans to improve water quality at Devon County Council’s water summit. We appreciate the opportunity to help shape the event and continue to engage constructively with the council.”
The pressure from the county council comes as some of Devon’s parliamentarians have also been increasingly scrutinising the firm.
David Reed, the Conservative MP for Exmouth and Exeter East, has picked up the issue of whether the water firm can truly cope with the expected increase in housing development in his constituency in the coming years, and expressed anger over a bonus payment to SWW’s former boss Susan Davy.
Mr Reed said Pennon, which owns SWW, had reversed its earlier decision to withhold Ms Davy’s bonus and approved a £270,000 payment along with a further £87,000 for 2025-26 in spite of her being in charge during the cryptosporidium outbreak in Brixham in 2024 for which it recently received a record fine for a drinking water offence of £1.8 million.
“As a Devon MP whose constituents are SWW customers, I want to raise this directly with you,” Mr Reed wrote in a letter to the firm.
“I understand Pennon’s position is that these payments were funded at group level rather than by SWW directly [but] I would be grateful if you could confirm this clearly and explain how you will ensure SWW bill payers have not contributed to this award, either directly or through inter-group transfers.”
Pennon Group has defended the payouts because they were reinstated after guidance from Ofwat on how new rules on executive bonuses would be applied.
Ofwat introduced fresh powers this year to block bonuses in certain cases, including serious pollution incidents, and said it had already stopped £4 million being paid across the sector.
Pennon said the payouts were funded at group level and not directly by customers.
Mr Haslett, the chief executive of Pennon, has said while he had “only been CEO for a few weeks” it was “very clear we must learn lessons” and “continue to rebuild trust with the customers and communities we serve”.
“I am already focused on driving improvement in the way we operate, how we communicate and support our customers during operational incidents, and driving a step-change in our performance for our customers and the environment,” Mr Haslett said.
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