Ian Liddell-Grainger and Wessex Water in Lord Lieutenant row

Mr Liddell-Grainger has written to Rishi Sunak saying Mohammed Saddiq's appointment as Lord Lieutenant of Somerset should have been blocked due to his links to the water company.

Mr Saddiq was executive director at Wessex Water until he recently resigned so he could devote more time to his new role as the King's representative in the county.

In his letter, Mr Liddell-Grainger accuses Wessex Water of an "appalling record for dumping raw sewage into Somerset’s rivers", which he believes should debar Mr Saddiq from his new post.

Wessex Water refutes claims it dumps raw sewage in local rivers and denies having "an appalling record".

Here is Mr Liddell-Grainger's letter to Rishi Sunak in full, followed by the response from Wessex Water.

"Dear Rishi.

"A new Lord Lieutenant for Somerset is now in place. By all accounts the chosen candidate is a charming individual but his selection, on the recommendation of the Prime Minister’s Appointments Secretary, raises serious issues about the honesty of the process.

"Mr Mohammed Saddiq’s voluntary and charitable credentials may be considerable. He also ticks one significant box in being the first ever Muslim to fulfil a Lieutenancy. But his professional career – most recently as Executive Director of Operations at Wessex Water - should have stopped this appointment dead in its tracks.

"Wessex Water has an appalling record for dumping raw sewage into Somerset’s rivers. The company did it 14,000 times last year alone. Phosphate pollution has now halted many major housing projects and councils are spending millions tackling problems they did not cause.

"Last year Mr Saddiq received £165,000 as a bonus on top of his handsome Wessex Water salary for “environmental performance”. His job presents an obvious conflict of interest and should have rung loud alarm bells throughout the appointments system – a system which operates in the Prime Minister’s name.

"Mr Saddiq has, at last, resigned his directorship of Wessex Water but only did so after I raised the probity of his selection in the House. My criticism of the appointment system remains.

"This system claims to “consult” local MPs and leading councillors in advance. But the identity of this candidate was never shared with me or any of my Parliamentary colleagues. If it had been it would have been vetoed early on. The system lacks transparency and requires improvement as a matter of urgency.

"Your pledge to govern with openness and integrity is very important to my constituents. Your influence upon this matter will be greatly welcomed."

A Wessex Water spokesman said: “It is disappointing that Mr Liddell-Grainger has made these inaccurate comments, particularly since he has received a number of briefings, including a personal letter from Wessex Water’s Chief Executive setting out the facts.

“Wessex Water does not “dump raw sewage”, nor does it have an “appalling record”, assessments by independent regulators show Wessex Water to be one of the best performers.

“Sewerage systems in the UK include overflows that operate automatically during periods of very heavy rain to prevent properties and roads from flooding. The overflows generally release fine screened, dilute storm sewage with little impact on water quality.

“The Environment Agency is responsible for river and bathing water quality and set the permits under which storm overflows have to operate; the ones in Somerset did not operate on 14,000 occasions last year.

“There are 1,300 overflows across the Wessex Water region, 600 of which have already been improved and we are currently spending £3 million per month on further improvements to progressively eliminate overflows from the network.

“Mr Liddell-Grainger is correct that phosphates are the main pollutant in the Somerset Levels. Wessex Water has already removed 100 tonnes of phosphate per year from our treatment works and is spending a further £57 million to remove another 70 tonnes by 2025. The remaining phosphate in rivers largely comes from agriculture and urban runoff. We are working with farmers and other landowners to reduce this phosphate by the use of nature-based solutions, so enabling new development to resume.

“Mohammed Saddiq’s bonus for 2021 was set by the company’s independent Remuneration Committee and reflected his contribution to the company’s performance across a range of targets, including customer service and environmental improvement. We congratulate Mohammed on his appointment as Lord Lieutenant which reflects the outstanding contribution he has made to a wide range of causes across Somerset. It was because of the commitments of his new role that he has stepped down from Wessex Water.”

READ MORE: Mohammed Saddiq takes up the post of Lord Lieutenant of Somerset.