Asked by: Lord Cameron of Dillington (Crossbench - 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 merits of ending operator self-monitoring of sewage overflows.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since 01 January 2025, water companies are required to publish data related to discharges from all storm overflows within one hour of the discharge beginning (under section 141DA of the Water Industry Act 1991 as inserted by section 81 of the Environment Act 2021).
Data must be published in a way that is accessible to the public and in a form that allows the public readily to understand it. To support this, Water UK have launched a central hub that provides discharge data of every storm overflow in England on a single website.
To further support understanding of the impact that sewage discharges have on the receiving watercourse, a programme to rollout Continuous Water Quality Monitors near storm overflows and sewage treatment works is beginning in Price Review period (PR24), which runs from 2025-2030. Monitors will be installed at 25% of assets in scope for the continuous water quality monitoring programme in the next Price Review 24. Sites prioritised for monitoring will be based on Defra’s priority areas, such as those that impact designated bathing and shellfish waters.
Combined, these measures are creating an unprecedented level of transparency, enabling the public and regulators to see where, and how often, overflows are discharging, and to hold water companies to account. Where breaches of legal requirements are identified as a result of this data, regulators won't hesitate to take action.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Dillington (Crossbench - 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 use of visual sensors to monitor storm overflows.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since 01 January 2025, water companies are required to publish data related to discharges from all storm overflows within one hour of the discharge beginning (under section 141DA of the Water Industry Act 1991 as inserted by section 81 of the Environment Act 2021).
Data must be published in a way that is accessible to the public and in a form that allows the public readily to understand it. To support this, Water UK have launched a central hub that provides discharge data of every storm overflow in England on a single website.
To further support understanding of the impact that sewage discharges have on the receiving watercourse, a programme to rollout Continuous Water Quality Monitors near storm overflows and sewage treatment works is beginning in Price Review period (PR24), which runs from 2025-2030. Monitors will be installed at 25% of assets in scope for the continuous water quality monitoring programme in the next Price Review 24. Sites prioritised for monitoring will be based on Defra’s priority areas, such as those that impact designated bathing and shellfish waters.
Combined, these measures are creating an unprecedented level of transparency, enabling the public and regulators to see where, and how often, overflows are discharging, and to hold water companies to account. Where breaches of legal requirements are identified as a result of this data, regulators won't hesitate to take action.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Dillington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve the monitoring of storm overflows.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since 01 January 2025, water companies are required to publish data related to discharges from all storm overflows within one hour of the discharge beginning (under section 141DA of the Water Industry Act 1991 as inserted by section 81 of the Environment Act 2021).
Data must be published in a way that is accessible to the public and in a form that allows the public readily to understand it. To support this, Water UK have launched a central hub that provides discharge data of every storm overflow in England on a single website.
To further support understanding of the impact that sewage discharges have on the receiving watercourse, a programme to rollout Continuous Water Quality Monitors near storm overflows and sewage treatment works is beginning in Price Review period (PR24), which runs from 2025-2030. Monitors will be installed at 25% of assets in scope for the continuous water quality monitoring programme in the next Price Review 24. Sites prioritised for monitoring will be based on Defra’s priority areas, such as those that impact designated bathing and shellfish waters.
Combined, these measures are creating an unprecedented level of transparency, enabling the public and regulators to see where, and how often, overflows are discharging, and to hold water companies to account. Where breaches of legal requirements are identified as a result of this data, regulators won't hesitate to take action.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Dillington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to tackle the harmful impact of commercial fishing in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI) Marine Protected Area (MPA), designated by the SGSSI Government in 2012 and strengthened in 2013 and 2019, aims to conserve the rich marine diversity and provide the framework for management and research. The zone covers 1.24 million km2. Fishing is highly regulated and carried out in a way that protects the marine ecosystem.
Bottom trawling is prohibited throughout. Longline fishing is limited to depths of between 700 and 2,250 metres, restricted to 6 per cent of the MPA. Toothfish and krill fishing is only permitted during four winter months to reduce the impact on seabirds, penguins, seals and whales. No take zones, where all fishing activity is prohibited, cover 283,000km2 and include the most biodiverse regions of the seabed.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Dillington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether existing management measures in place for South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands are sufficient to protect that marine ecosystem.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
The Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) is currently undertaking the second 5-year review of its Marine Protected Area (MPA). The review is considering the effectiveness of the current MPA measures, including whether the underpinning scientific research and monitoring is sufficient, particularly in light of climate change, and whether effective monitoring and surveillance capacity is in place. The review will determine whether additional measures are required to achieve the stated MPA objectives. GSGSSI is committed to reporting on its review by early next year.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Dillington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps, if any, they are taking to (1) implement a national framework for the licensing of land for geothermal drilling, and (2) streamline permissions to enable geothermal drilling to take place.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There are currently no plans to license and streamline geothermal drilling, however, Officials will review the case for a comprehensive geothermal licensing regime as the sector develops. The Government is pleased to see that three geothermal power projects were successful in this year’s contracts for difference auction.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Dillington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to developing a publicly accessible database on the UK’s subsurface to optimise understanding of it.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The subsurface enables a wide range of essential services that underpin our economy and society. The Government continues to invest to develop our understanding of the subsurface, for example:
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Dillington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will respond to the Policy design features for the car and van zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate consultation, which ran from 7 April to 10 June.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Responses to this consultation are being analysed and the Government will publish its response, and a full regulatory proposal and cost benefit analysis, in due course. The Government remains committed to targets entering into force from 01 January 2024.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Dillington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take, if any, to meet the Fisheries Act 2020 ecosystem objective, particularly the monitoring and mitigation of sensitive species by catch, in the absence of substantial observer coverage and Remote Electronic Monitoring onboard English fishing vessels.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
We recognise that accidental bycatch in fisheries is one of the greatest threats faced by sensitive marine species such as dolphins and seabirds, and we remain fully committed to tackling this issue. The way the “ecosystem” and “bycatch” objectives in the Fisheries Act 2020 will be delivered through policies across the UK has been set out in the draft Joint Fisheries Statement, which is out for public consultation until 12 April.
Since 2020, Defra has funded Clean Catch UK, a research programme which is developing and trialling a range of bycatch monitoring and mitigation measures in Cornwall (a known high-risk area for sensitive species bycatch). This programme has developed a bycatch self-reporting mobile application validated by observers and electronic monitoring and an online ‘Bycatch Mitigation Hub’ with information on different approaches to reduce bycatch. In addition, we are working with the fishing industry to trial various innovative technologies to reduce cetacean bycatch. The government will continue to build on the work of Clean Catch to improve our understanding of bycatch and implement effective mitigation measures to minimise and, where possible, eliminate bycatch.
The UK government funds a comprehensive and well-respected bycatch monitoring programme which provides essential observer data on incidents of sensitive species bycatch. The programme focuses primarily on gear types with a high expected or known risk of sensitive species bycatch. A new contract for the bycatch monitoring programme is expected to begin in April 2022.
Asked by: Lord Cameron of Dillington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the delay to building new houses caused by uncertainty about how to mitigate against the production of phosphate and nitrate nutrients; and what steps they are taking, if any, to tackle this issue.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
We have not made an assessment of the duration of delays to new development caused by uncertainty over nutrient mitigation. The Government is committed to delivering the homes this country needs and is striving to level up all parts of the country. The Minister for Housing and Minister for the Environment co-chair the nutrients taskforce which draws on input across government including Natural England and the Environment Agency. This taskforce works to ensure a clear action plan is in place, focusing on solutions for supporting housebuilding to resume without compromising the condition of Protected Sites. This includes work with water companies and regulators, who have an important role to play to tackle nutrient pollution and support the building of new and sustainable developments. As set out in ‘The Benefits of Brexit’ we are also considering how habitats regulations could be amended to help address problems with nutrient pollution.