Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of mandating sustainable drainage systems in all new developments.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is strongly committed to requiring standardised Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) in new developments. These should be to designs that cope with changing climatic conditions as well as delivering wider water infrastructure benefits, reduce run off and help to improve water quality, amenity and biodiversity. It is also important to ensure appropriate adoption and maintenance arrangements are in place.
We believe that these outcomes can be achieved through either improving the current planning led approach using powers now available or commencing Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. A final decision on the way forward will be made in the coming months.
We have made some immediate changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to support increasing SuDS. The NPPF now requires all development to utilize SuDS where they could have drainage impacts. These systems should be appropriate to the nature and scale of the proposed development. See paragraphs 181 and 182 of the National Planning Policy Framework.
We will review the planning system holistically and consider whether further changes are required to address SuDS when we consult on further planning reform, including national policy related to decision making, in 2025.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring water companies to implement pollution incident reduction plans.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Water (Special Measures) Bill will introduce a statutory duty for all water companies in England and Wales to publish annual Pollution Incident Reduction Plans. Water companies will be required to use these plans to set out the actions they intend to take to reduce the severity and frequency of pollution incidents.
The Government fully agrees that water companies must implement the actions it sets out in its plans. That is why we are we are requiring water companies to produce an annual implementation report alongside their plan, setting out where they have and have not implemented the measures they planned to implement in the preceding year, and what they plan to do to rectify any similar failures in future.
The Government is clear that failure to act is unacceptable. That is why if a company fails to publish a compliant plan and implementation report by the deadline each year, this will be considered an offence, enforced by the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales. Chief Executives will be required to approve both the plan and the report and will be personally liable for their publication.
During the passage of the Water (Special Measures) Bill, it was debated whether to include a statutory duty to implement pollution incident reduction plans. The Government does not believe this is appropriate. Doing so could result in companies creating enforceable duties on themselves. This would create confusion for our regulators and could also result in an inadvertent reduction of companies’ ambition.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to improve water infrastructure.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) (England and Wales) Regulations 2017 transposed the European Union’s Water Framework Directive (WFD) into law in England and Wales and were retained in UK law after EU exit.
In the Government’s response to the Office for Environmental Protection’s report on the implementation of the Water Framework Directive Regulations, this Government agreed that not enough progress has been made in meeting the Framework’s objective for water quality, to restore water bodies to good ecological status or good ecological potential. This is due to a failure by the previous Government to drive sufficient investment and action over the last 15 years since the first River Basin Management Plans were published.
The Secretary of State has made cleaning up the water environment a priority for Defra and made clear that increased action and investment, and more effective management of the water system as a whole is required.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure affordable water supply for households.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As the independent economic regulator, Ofwat independently scrutinises water company business plans and ensure the prices water companies charge their customers are fair and proportionate.
All water companies have measures in place for people who struggle to pay for their water and wastewater services, including measures such as WaterSure, social tariffs, payment breaks and holidays, and debt management support.
We expect all companies to make sure households are aware of the measures available to them and do everything they can to support their customers. Furthermore, we expect companies to hold themselves accountable for their public commitment to end water poverty by 2030 and will work with the sector to ensure appropriate measures are taken to this end.
The Government is working with industry to keep the current support schemes under review to ensure that vulnerable customers across the country are supported.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to take steps to strengthen the powers of water regulators.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues.
The AI (artificial intelligence) Opportunities Action Plan sets out how we will achieve our AI ambitions by laying the foundations for growth, driving adoption and building UK capabilities. We recognise that data centres face sustainability challenges, from energy demands to water use.
Through the AI Energy Council, we will be exploring bold, clean energy solutions from next-generation renewables to small modular reactors to ensure our AI ambitions align with the UK’s net zero goals. This builds on the Department of Science, Innovation & Technology’s contribution to make Britain a clean energy superpower by investing in relevant research on clean energy and climate change.