South Leicestershire Lib Dems call for Winter Fuel Payments to be backdated for local pensioners.
South Leicestershire’s Liberal Democrats have called on the Government to backdate the Winter Fuel Payment for local pensioners who lost out last winter.
Under the Government’s plans, all pensioners earning £35,000 a year or less will now have their Winter Fuel Payments reinstated this winter. However, those who are now eligible but lost out last winter won’t be reimbursed under the Government’s plans.
“I heard countless stories from people here in South Leicestershire who were struggling to make ends meet after this support was stripped away. If the Government has truly ‘listened’ they should be backdating these payments to all those who lost support last winter but will receive it this time around. |
76.8% increase in hours of sewage dumped by Severn Trent Water last year
New figures released by the Environment Agency have shown that Severn Trent Water, which covers South Leicestershire, discharged sewage into waterways for a staggering 440,446 hours last year, a 76.8% increase on 2022.
South Leicestershire Liberal Democrats are calling for tougher action against sewage dumping in local rivers, including replacing Ofwat with a tougher regulator. The party has also called for a ban on bonuses for water company bosses whose firms have dumped sewage into waterways.
Conservative MPs, including the MP for South Leicestershire, have consistently voted against measures that would have helped to tackle the crisis.
In 2022 alone, 64 spills accounted for 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝟳𝟳𝟱 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 worth of effluent being dumped into the Countesthorpe Brook, a Tributary Of River Sence.
Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for South Leicestershire, Paul Hartshorn said:
“It is a complete scandal that filthy sewage is being pumped into South Leicestershires’s rivers and waterways.
“It beggars belief that Conservative MPs have allowed water firms to get away with this environmental vandalism. Local people are furious that Conservative politicians blocked tougher action on these disgraced firms.
“The Liberal Democrats are calling for tougher action to stop sewage being dumped in local rivers including replacing OfWat with a regulator that has real teeth to clamp down on these polluting firms. We have also called for a ban on bonuses for water company fat cats whose firms have pumped filth into our waterways.”
See table
| 2022 spills | 2022 Hours | 2023 Spills | 2023 Hours | |
| Severn Trent Water | 44,765 | 249,116 | 60,253 | 440,446 |