MPs have backed plans to give environmental regulators powers to impose unlimited fines for polluters.

Environment Secretary Therese Coffey said a “strong deterrent” was needed to tackle the issue.

The secondary legislation strengthening enforcement against those holding environmental permits – such as water and energy companies – passed the Commons unopposed on Tuesday. It will need to be approved in both Houses of Parliament before it can take effect.

But a small number of Tory MPs raised concerns over the powers given to arms-length bodies.

Ms Coffey told MPs: “The purpose of these instruments before the House today is to strengthen environmental civil sanctions so that our environmental regulators can apply an unlimited penalty to those companies that break the terms of their permits and do damage to the environment.

Our regulators will have all the tools I believe that they need and have asked for, importantly enough, in order to tackle this situation

“We are also making it easier for such penalties to be applied rather than having to resort exclusively to have to take polluters to court for fines to be applied.”

Her comments came as MPs debated a Government motion to approve the Draft Environmental Civil Sanctions (England) (Amendment) Order 2023 and the Draft Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) (Amendment) (England) (No.2) Regulations 2023.

She noted that currently penalties are capped at £250,000, saying: “Unfortunately, it seems that some operators may have priced in that it can be cheaper to pay the current penalty than to fix the problem and tackle the pollution”.

She added: “We must provide a strong deterrent particularly for large operators with significant turnover… Our regulators will have all the tools I believe that they need and have asked for, importantly enough, in order to tackle this situation.”

But shadow environment secretary Jim McMahon accused the Government of “going backwards”, arguing the country “is suffering from the Tory sewage scandal”.

Labour’s plan, he said, “would have seen sewage discharges ended by 2030 and we believe and the evidence says that that could be done within the money that’s

Higher fines won't in themselves lead to solutions

currently being derived from dividends”.

Conservative MP Natalie Elphicke (Dover) said the statutory instruments should be “properly named as being the continued protection of the over-mighty quangos of Natural England and the Environment Agency”.

She said Ofwat, Natural England and the Environment Agency need “reform”, adding: “Higher fines won’t in themselves lead to solutions. Solutions are only found on this issue by detailed complex, technical, professional solutions.”

She added: “By failing to keep big quangos in check, I’m afraid Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) is responsible for a very substantial fall in housebuilding in this country.

“It’s vital that this doesn’t happen to investment in our water companies too.”