Green councillors in Bath and North East Somerset are calling for the area to pass a “no confidence motion” in Wessex Water.
The water company — which is responsible for treating sewage across Somerset, Wiltshire, Dorst, and the Bristol area — spilled untreated sewage for thousands of hours last year and gave its CEO an £80k pay rise after it was banned from giving out bonuses, the Green Party motion notes. It will go to a vote at Bath and North East Somerset Council’s meeting today (Sept 17).
If passed, it would see the council declare “that it has no confidence in Wessex Water.” It would also call for Wessex Water bosses to be brought before a council scrutiny panel to face questions, and ask the council leader to write to the government in support of nationalising water companies.
The motion states: “The sewage crisis continues to be a national scandal. Successive Governments have failed to take any meaningful action to stop it and have allowed it to get worse.”
Cornwall Council passed a no confidence motion in South West Water in July over its “grave failure” to manage the county’s sewers. About 60 of Cornwall’s town and parish councils supported the cross-party Dowr Glan campaign, Cornish for “clean water.” Sewage was discharged directly at some of the most popular Cornish beaches by South West Water.
In August, councillors in Wiltshire — where sewers are run by Wessex Water — warned that children had fallen ill after swimming in a river there and some had been hospitalised for two days. Bath and North East Somerset Council voted unanimously in July to endorse a charter to respect the river’s “rights” to not be polluted.
Wessex Water’s storm overflows spilled for 190,666 hours in 2025, Rivers Trust figures show. Storm overflows discharge rainwater and untreated sewage directly into rivers and seas, nominally to prevent pipes backing up during extreme demand.
A statement on Wessex Water’s website about storm overflows states: “Storm overflows have always been part of the sewerage network in the UK and while they have little impact on water quality, they are clearly not appropriate for the 21st century.
“To eliminate all overflows immediately would bring huge disruption to our communities as well as a significant increase in water bills, forcing us to dig up huge numbers of roads at once and costing hundreds of millions of pounds.
"That’s why we’ve committed to eliminating harm from the discharge of untreated sewage, targeting storm overflows that discharge most frequently and those that have any environmental impact. Over the next five years, we're spending £8.5 million a month on overflow improvement schemes.”
