Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential merits of using special administration measures to address governance and environmental compliance issues in the water sector.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A Special Administration Regime (SAR) enables a company which provides vital public services (e.g. water, energy, rail) to be put into administration in certain circumstances, to ensure that the public service will continue to be provided.
There is a high bar for the imposition of a Special Administration Regime. The law states that Special Administration can only be initiated if the company becomes insolvent, can no longer fulfil its statutory duties or seriously breaches an enforcement order.
Enforcement of governance and compliance issues fall within the remit of the regulators. There is a robust system of independent economic and environmental regulation for holding the water sector to account. It is of course right that we continue to look at the regulatory context, and where necessary, take action to strengthen the regulatory framework. This is why the Government has launched the Independent Water Commission, which will fundamentally transform how our water system works.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address agricultural pollution in rivers; and whether they will launch a dedicated review into this issue.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government has made it clear that levels of water pollution are unacceptable. That is why cleaning up our rivers is a priority for this Government; addressing agricultural pollution is key to delivering this.
To this end, we are currently reviewing the Environmental Improvement Plan to set out how Defra will deliver improvements to reach our legally binding targets including to reduce agricultural pollution. We want to work with farmers to tackle agricultural pollution through a range of proportionate and effective regulations, advice programmes and incentives schemes.
As part of this, we are prioritising finalising the Post-Implementation Reviews on both the Farming Rules for Water and Nitrate Pollution Prevention Regulations. The outcomes of these reviews will inform our next steps to ensure these regulations are effective for both farmers and the environment.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of water industry governance in other countries, and of best practice which could be adopted in England and Wales.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to the system of economic regulation. This model has delivered a range of benefits including high quality drinking water and reducing leakage by around a third.
However, public trust in the industry is currently low and we need to ensure a robust regulatory system is in place to deliver the much-needed investment to clean up our waterways and meet the additional challenges of population growth and climate change. The Water (Special Measures) Act was the first major step this Government took to deliver for customers and the environment by driving meaningful improvements in the performance and culture of the water industry.
Launched in October 2024, the Independent Water Commission is drawing upon a panel of cross-sector experts and will recommend reforms to reset our water sector regulatory system, which could include proposals for improving industry governance. The Commission will consider approaches from other countries, where varying water governance models have evolved.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the water industry prioritises good water quality.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ofwat published its final determinations for Price Review 2024 in December 2024, which sets company expenditure and customer bills for 2025-2030. This will deliver substantial, lasting, improvements for customers and the environment through a £104bn upgrade for the water sector. This investment will mean cleaner rivers, seas, and lakes across the country, more jobs and more investment.
Since 1 January 2025, water companies have been required to publish data related to discharges from all storm overflows within one hour of the discharge beginning. The Secretary of State has authorised Ofwat to carry out enforcement action for this duty, in accordance with the powers conferred under sections 18 and 141DA (4) of the Water Industry Act 1991.
Ofwat is monitoring compliance with the duty to report relevant data in real time. Ofwat’s enforcement powers provide for a wide range of enforcement activity, including substantial penalties. Where it detects non-compliance, it will take appropriate enforcement action.
In addition to this, the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025 has introduced an equivalent duty for water companies to publish data related to discharges from all emergency overflows within one hour of the discharge beginning. Once commenced, this duty will be enforced in the same way.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the management and erosion of Dawlish Warren spit; and the future level of coastal protection required for settlements on the Exe estuary.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency made an assessment of risk as part of the Exe Estuary FCERM Strategy 2014, collaborating with stakeholders including the public. It identified that Dawlish Warren affects the FCERM (Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management) of the wider estuary and that existing defences were unsustainable. The Strategy also identified that improvements were needed in Exmouth and Starcross, which have been delivered.
The 2017 Dawlish Warren Beach Management Scheme included new defences, beach recharge, groyne works, and the removal of relic gabion (Rock) baskets. To enable natural evolution, a planning condition identified that remaining groyne, geotube and relic gabion defences be removed by 2049.
Habitat creation schemes in the Exe were not delivered as they were deemed either not acceptable or uneconomic, but schemes have since been delivered in the Otter estuary. Works to deliver improvements at Powderham and Topsham are ongoing.
The future management of Dawlish Warren will be confirmed as part of an update to the current Strategy by 2028. Stakeholder and community engagement is planned from 2026. This update will review the current Strategy, re-assessing the risk and improvements required to protect communities, infrastructure and the environment over the next 100 years following updated Government guidance.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the range of contaminants assessed for disposal at sea was last reviewed, and whether there is a regular programme for review.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There is no limit to which contaminants can be recommended for analysis for applications for disposal at sea. Cefas – the agency that provides contaminant sampling advice – primarily uses the OSPAR Guidelines for the Management of Dredged Material at Sea (Agreement 2014-06, Updated 2024). The testing of Primary List contaminants will be recommended for most applications, whilst Secondary List contaminants will also be recommended in some applications, where considered relevant. Ultimately recommendations are based on likelihood of adverse effects and practicality considerations. The OSPAR Expert Assessment Panel on Dredged Material last reviewed these lists for the update of the Agreement in 2024. The UK has convened several Action Level Reviews against which contaminants are assessed (in 2003, 2005, 2015 and 2020).
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to align the assessment of the levels of contaminants that can be disposed of at sea with the best practices of other countries.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We do not have any plans to change the formal Action Levels for contaminants at this time. However, when assessing levels of contaminants that can be disposed of at sea, Defra bodies follow international OSPAR guidelines to protect the environment. Cefas use the best available evidence when providing advice on dredged contaminants, which may draw on best practice from other countries. The MMO will consider this advice when determining a dredging licence application. We will continue to work with stakeholders to improve our evidence base on the environmental and economic impacts of Action Levels, and to explore options to manage any impacts.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will include bioassays and biotoxicity tests in assessments of samples for disposal at sea.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The OSPAR guidelines allow for the use of effect response analyses (such as bioassays). These are not commonly recommended by Cefas largely due to the costs and additional time implications of the analyses which would be incurred by applicants. However, if it was identified that such tests would be useful for a weight of evidence in a specific case, they could be requested or considered if an applicant wished to provide them. Cefas is considering the use of ‘Microtox’ bioassay testing as a potential option for characterising dredged material, in such instances.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have a timetable for the monitoring of all marine disposal sites.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Marine Management Organisation, in conjunction with Cefas, run an annual Disposal Site Monitoring project and identify a list of disposal sites for monitoring each year, ensuring that no area is left without monitoring. Disposal can be redirected to a specific site if there are particular concerns regarding that site.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the range of contaminants monitored at sea disposal sites was last updated; and whether there is a programme to update the range of monitored contaminants.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The range of contaminants monitored at sea disposal sites is not a standardised list. Rather, the choice of which contaminants to monitor is based on a review of each year’s licenced disposals and considering the OSPAR Guidelines for the Management of Dredged Material at Sea (Agreement 2014-06. Updated 2024). Primary List contaminants (Technical Annex I) may be analysed for at disposal sites while Secondary List contaminants can also sometimes be analysed for. Monitoring also adheres to the OSPAR Coordinated Environment Monitoring Programme Guidelines for the assessment of dumping and placement of waste and other matter at sea (Agreement 2017-04). Other analyses such as benthic infauna and bathymetry surveys may also be undertaken, as appropriate.