Discharges more than doubled after £24m cut from budget when Environment Secretary last served at Defra
The new Environment Secretary has been accused of escalating the crisis of sewage pouring into Britain’s rivers after previously overseeing a cut to a key protection fund by a third.
Therèse Coffey was appointed to the role last week, but previously held the ministerial brief for the environment and rural opportunity between 2016 to 2019.
During that period, the amount given by the central government to the Environment Agency for environment protection, known as “grant in aid” funding, was majorly reduced.
The grant dropped from £76 million in 2016-17 to £52 million in 2018-19, a fall of 32 per cent. During the same period, sewage discharges more than doubled.