'It is completely unacceptable' says Sheffield MP in letter blasting Yorkshire Water increase in sewage spills

The letter has highlighted concerns about the water company’s decision to pay bonuses to executives given its own annual report suggested the firm did not perform as it is required.

Sheffield Central MP, Abtisam Mohamed, wrote on X: “It is completely unacceptable that there was a 43% increase in the number sewage spills by [Yorkshire Water] in 2023. I have initiated a letter to the CEO, co-signed by fellow Sheffield MPs, to discuss how they will address this.”

The letter, co-signed by MPs Clive Betts, Olivia Blake, Gill Furniss and Dr Marie Tidball, requests a meeting with Yorkshire Water CEO Nicola Shaw.

It says: “We are concerned about Yorkshire Water’s performance with data showing that there was a 43 per cent increase in the number of sewage spills - from 54,273 in 2022 to 77,761 in 2023.

“We are also disappointed that Yorkshire Water decided to pay bonuses given the findings of your own annual report in which the board stated that it ‘recognises that the business did not achieve the level of performance required’, and it highlighted a number of ‘serious pollution events’.”

Sheffield Heeley MP Louise Haigh - the Secretary of State for Transport - was not identified as signing the letter, though this is not unusual in her senior government role.

The letter requested an urgent meeting with the CEO to discuss actions the business can take to “improve performance” and “clean up our waterways in Sheffield”.

In October 2024, the industry regulator Ofwat ordered Yorkshire Water to repay customers £36million in reduced bills from April 2025. The penalty came after the company missed key targets on pollution.

Ofwat proposed a seperate fine of £47m for the company in August 2024, as part of a £168m combined package of fines split between Yorkshire Water, Thames Water and Northumbrian Water.

The regulator said the firms “failed to ensure that discharges of untreated wastewater from storm overflows occur only in exceptional circumstances, which has resulted in harm to the environment and their customers".

A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said: “We are committed to improving our region’s rivers and were disappointed about the number of discharges in 2023, which came during the 6th wettest year since Met Office records began in 1836.

“We are currently in the process of investing £180m to reduce overflows in the region, with projects taking place in and around Sheffield as part of this work. We have also submitted plans to Ofwat, outlining a £1.3bn plan to further reduce overflows between 2025 and 2030. This forms part of our £8.2bn investment plans for the region - our largest ever environmental investment.

“We would be happy to meet Sheffield’s MPs and will be responding to their letter as soon as possible.”

Feargal Sharkey, the environmental campaigner and former Undertones frontman, recently conducted a number of pollution tests on a section of the River Don in Swinton, Rotherham, as part of an investigation with radio network LBC (Leading Britain’s Conversation).

Mr Sharkey described the river as being “filthy” after finding elevated levels of phosphates, nitrates and ammonia - higher than what is permitted by the Environment Agency.

Earlier this week, Yorkshire Water joined a number of other water companies asking Ofwat for higher price hikes than initially requested. On average, companies want bills to rise 40 per cent.

Water companies told the Ofwat increased regulation and fines necessitate the higher bills.

The Labour environment secretary Steve Reed has announced a “full review” of the industry in hopes of rebuilding a broken model.