A LOCAL MP has welcomed a new government announcement which will see the largest increase in criminal action against water companies in history - including four against Yorkshire Water.

A record 81 criminal investigations into water companies have been launched in England since the election in July 2024.

Following these investigations, water bosses could be jailed for five years, and water companies fined hundreds of millions of pounds.

Data from the Environment Agency shows sewage from storm overflows was flowing into water bodies in Barnsley for 26,302 hours in 2023, during 3,736 spills.

This was up from 13,228 hours recorded the year before, when there were 2,715 spills in the town.

MP John Healey has welcomed the investigations and said that ‘strong action’ will be taken if Yorkshire Water are found to have broken the law.

He added: “Sewage dumping across South Yorkshire has been a stain on our local environment for too long.

“The previous government’s record on sewage was a disgrace, they let water bosses off the hook and let criminal dumping into our rivers, lakes and seas go unpunished.

“These investigations are strong action that will see Yorkshire Water punished if they are found to have broken the law and force them to clean up their act, and our environment.”

Since privatisation, only three individuals have been successfully criminally prosecuted by the Environment Agency despite widespread illegality, John added.

This failure to hold water companies to account came at the same time as, under the previous government, £41 million in bonuses, benefits and incentives were paid to water company executives from 2020.

New powers delivered by the government’s landmark Water (Special Measures) Act 2025, mean water executives who cover up or hide illegal sewage spills can now be locked up for two years and water companies fined hundreds of millions of pounds.

A total of seven cases against water companies are going to court over the next few months.

Further Environment Agency figures show there were 212 water pollution incidents in Barnsley between 2018 and 2023, just 53 of which were visited immediately by those responsible.

This means they were attended within two hours of a report coming in, or within four hours outside of the normal working day a definition set by the organisation.

Of the 159 of those not visited immediately, four were category two incidents, which are classed as having a ‘significant impact’.

The remainder were category three, meaning they were judged as having a ‘minor or minimal’ impact on the environment.

The 69-mile-long River Don - which flows through the Penistone and Stocksbridge constituency - had almost 1,400 spills from Yorkshire Water alone, or 7,891 hours in total.

Silkstone Beck, which runs from Silkstone Common towards Barnsley, and Highwood Dike, near Wortley, have also been subject to serious sewage dumping.

Penistone and Stocksbridge MP Marie Tidball has praised the tougher measures.

She said: “The Labour government’s immediate action against this behaviour is very welcome and demonstrates that we will not tolerate water executives lining their own pockets at the expense of our environment.

“Toxic sewage dumping from water companies affects our entire constituency, with the beautiful River Don and its tributaries running from Dunford Bridge through Penistone.

“The Labour government will outline further legislation to fundamentally transform how the water industry is run, and speed up the delivery of upgrades to our sewage infrastructure to clean up our waterways for good.”