Fact check: Wastewater reforms set to target companies, not individual homes

Government plans to tackle issue of sewage discharges without increasing taxation based on effluent flow meter readings.

Tuesday 22 October 2024 13:02 BST

There are no plans to install effluent meters in UK properties (Gareth Fuller/PA) (PA Wire)

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A TikTok user has racked up more than a million views with a video describing an alleged plan by the Labour Party to impose greater taxes on households which generate more sewage.

The man in the video claims that, “as part of their Net Zero agenda”, the Government will attach “a measuring device” to domestic pipes connecting to the sewage system over the next decade. He claims that the more the meter detects, “the higher your tax will be”.

The video has also been reposted on X, formerly Twitter.

Evaluation

There are no plans to install effluent meters in UK properties. While there has been a lot of focus recently on reforms to water management and its systems, this has been restricted to water companies rather than domestic consumers.

The facts

The TikTok user who posted the original video has posted numerous other videos regarding taxes the Labour Party could introduce. Some of these have been clearly identified as satirical.

A video describing a tax on walking carried a note, visible 55 seconds in, stating: “Clearly, not even the Leftie Whingers would do this for real.” And a video alleging a tax on tax has a statement 41 seconds in to say: “If you’re a Leftie and have no sense of humour, this is called satire.”

The post about a tax on sewage has no such disclaimer.

When contacted by the PA news agency, an email address connected to the TikTok channel replied: “My work stands on it’s (sic) own merit .. take a look at a couple of the playlists on my TT channel … and draw your own conclusion.”

The management of wastewater and sewage has been a notable political issue recently, with the Liberal Democrats announcing regulation of the water industry as a policy during the party’s general election campaign. The Labour manifesto also pledged new regulatory powers and criminal charges relating to the dumping of sewage, as well as “independent monitoring of every outlet”.

In a policy paper produced for the Government’s Water (Special Measures) Bill, introduced on September 4, it is clear that in this context “outlet” is used to mean emergency storm overflows. These are points at which the sewage system discharges waste water into the environment, and are the responsibility of water companies rather than individual households.

In addition to the Government’s bill, Labour MP Clive Lewis introduced a Water Bill to Parliament on October 16. This was launched as a Private Members’ Bill, a mechanism separate from Government-sponsored legislation. Although it makes provisions for the discussion of water companies’ impact on “climate mitigation and adaptation”, the Bill mostly targets water companies and their private ownership, rather than domestic sewage systems. When contacted by PA Media, Mr Lewis’s office noted that the Water Bill “doesn’t have any provisions for changing taxation”. The Bill’s second reading is not due until March 2025.