Rivers: Pollution
(asked on 11th July 2017) - View Source
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many recordable pollution incidents there were for English waterways in each year for which information is available; and what proportion of those offences resulted in (a) successful prosecution and (b) an enforcement undertaking.
The table below provides details of the numbers of water pollution incidents as well as the numbers of successful prosecutions and accepted Enforcement Undertakings for water pollution offences.
Year | Number of Category 1 & 2 Serious water pollution incidents | Total water pollution incidents - impact levels 1-3 | Successful prosecutions in relation to water pollution | Enforcement Undertakings Accepted |
2007 | 444 | 8282 | 145 | - |
2008 | 378 | 7770 | 117 | - |
2009 | 430 | 8285 | 111 | - |
2010 | 336 | 8583 | 113 | - |
2011 | 360 | 8504 | 98 | 0 |
2012 | 293 | 8265 | 82 | 1 |
2013 | 376 | 8485 | 54 | 3 |
2014 | 361 | 7274 | 45 | 3 |
2015 | 326 | 6363 | 22 | 1 |
2016 | 314 | 6414 | 42 | 14 |
Prosecutions or enforcement undertakings are normally considered for the more serious Category 1 and 2 incidents. Prosecutions are undertaken where there is a public interest in doing so and where there is a reasonable likelihood of obtaining conviction. Enforcement Undertakings have been available as an enforcement option since 2011.
The prosecution of water pollution offences or decision on enforcement undertakings does not necessarily occur in the same year in which the incidents took place. There are cases for offences which took place in earlier years which are currently still in progress.