This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament
Rejected petition Hold senior executives of water companies personally liable for illegal spills
Water companies are motivated by profit who prioritise shareholder dividends over environmental and public safety. As such, they are woefully neglecting critical infrastructural investment with devastating consequences. Senior executives and decision makers must be held culpable for these failings.
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Sewage spills are exponentially rising. Whilst shareholder dividends are paid out and executives receive bonuses, our rivers and streams are choking on sewage, becoming public health catastrophes. This is as a result of wilful neglect in the pursuit of profit over people. The government must hold senior executives criminally culpable to ensure our natural resources are protected from rapacious greed and illegality.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s about something that the UK Government or Parliament is not directly responsible for.
Polluting water discourses is already an offence, as stated in the Water Resources Act, available here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1991/57/part/III/chapter/II/crossheading/principal-offences/enacted
Officers of a company (such as a director or CEO) can be held criminally liable for environmental permitting offences if the offence was committed with their consent, connivance, or neglect.
Decisions about prosecuting alleged crimes are for the Crown Prosecution Service.
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.