Water companies have come in for a lot of criticism in recent months. Their failings when it comes to managing sewage and dealing with leaking pipes have been evident.

Communities that have felt the impact of the actions of these water companies have rightly been angered by their actions.

Therefore, it is hard to understand why the Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey is reportedly backing away from plans to hit water companies with fines of up to £250m for spilling sewage into rivers and seas.

Water companies should be held accountable for their actions. Especially when they are raking in profits and rewarding executives with generous pay. Yorkshire Water for example saw its operating profit grow to £242.3m last year.

Thérèse Coffey is Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. PIC: PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images

Yet across the country there have been examples of sewage discharge polluting waterways and beaches.

The Environment Secretary Therese Coffey last week also rejected calls from MPs to carry out further analysis to find out what caused the mass die-off of thousands of crustaceans off the North Yorkshire and North East coast.

The fishing communities on Yorkshire’s coast deserve to know what has caused such widespread devastation. It is people’s livelihoods at stake.

And it’s not hysterical to contemplate the ramifications for the entire ecosystem. If we’re not going to take matters like food security for granted, then surely we need answers.

It very much looks like the Environment Secretary isn’t on the side of the environment.

Water companies must be held accountable over sewage - The Yorkshire Post says