THE government is seeking to wash its hands of the sewage problem, Labour and the Prospect union said today following reports that environment regulators may have broken the law.

Combined sewer overflows (CSOs) are only supposed to be used after periods of unusually heavy rain to prevent the system from backing up and flooding people’s homes and businesses with sewage.

But the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Environment Agency (EA) and Ofwat may have breached environmental law and allowed water companies to pollute England’s waterways outside of these circumstances, the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) said.

The watchdog began its investigation after getting a complaint last June about the monitoring and enforcement of water companies’ management of sewage.

The probe aims to clarify the roles and responsibilities of the public authorities and determine whether they have failed to comply with their duties.

If a failure is identified, the OEP will seek to improve regulation, it said.

Prospect general secretary Mike Clancy said: “Ever since the sewage crisis came to light, the government have sought to wash their hands of any responsibility.

“The simple truth is that since 2010, funding to the EA has been slashed in real terms, pay is 20 per cent below what it was, morale is at rock bottom and increasingly the regulator Is unable to fulfil its function.”

He called on the government to “stop passing the buck” and put in place sufficient funding for the EA and others to do their jobs.

Shadow environment secretary Steve Reed said: “Nothing represents 13 years of Conservative failure more graphically than the sight of stinking, toxic sewage pouring into our rivers, lakes, and seas.

“[Prime Minister] Rishi Sunak wouldn’t want raw sewage in his private swimming pool, yet he’s happy to let human excrement pollute our waterways.

“[The Conservatives] cut back enforcement and monitoring of the water companies releasing this filth and are now failing to prosecute them when they are blatantly breaking the law.”

A Defra spokesperson said they do not agree with OEP’s “initial interpretations,” but will “continue to work constructively” with it on the issue.

The EA and Ofwat also have ongoing investigations into water companies.