Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how his Department plans to ensure that sewage treatment facilities (a) in Horley and (b) nationally are upgraded according to agreed timescales.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
For Price Review 2024 (PR24), which runs from 2025 – 2030, water companies will be delivering record levels of investment: £104 billion over the next five years.
Ofwat, Environment Agency (EA) and Natural Resources Wales have developed a new Delivery Monitoring Framework for the delivery period from 2025-30. It will establish a system for tracking and reporting on water company delivery of their WINEP obligations, to report to their customers and regulators on progress. Thames Water will be expected to comply with the 6 monthly reporting requirements.
As part of the Environment Act 2021, water companies in England are required to produce Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans (DWMPs). DWMPs set out how a water company intends to improve their drainage and wastewater systems over the next 25 years. These plans will help sewerage companies to fully assess the capacity of the drainage and wastewater network and develop collaborative solutions to current problems and future issues.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
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 support water regulators in (a) monitoring (i) river and (ii) sea water quality and (b) rectifying low water quality.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
For too long, water companies have discharged unacceptable levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas.
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. In addition to this, the Water (Special Measures) Bill will introduce a duty for water companies to publish data related to discharges from all emergency overflows within one hour of the discharge beginning. This will ensure that every sewage discharge outlet is monitored.
Price Review 24 set record levels of investment into the water industry of £104 billion over the next five years and sets out work water companies have to conduct. This includes investing £12 billion to upgrade nearly 3,000 storm overflows in England and Wales, reducing the number of spills from storm overflows and installing water quality monitors to provide further information on the impact of sewage discharges on water quality.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to provide (a) financial, (b) planning and (c) infrastructure support for the (i) development and (ii) improvement of sewage treatment facilities.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ofwat published their final determinations for Price Review 2024 (the price, investment and service package for water companies in England and Wales) on 19 December, which sets company expenditure and customer bills for 2025-2030.
This will deliver substantial, lasting, improvements for customers and the environment through £104 billion of investment in the water sector, including improving over 1700 wastewater treatment works.
Government recognises the importance of having a robust drainage and wastewater system both now and for future demand. As part of the Environment Act 2021, water companies in England are required to produce Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans (DWMPs). DWMPs set out how a water company intends to improve their drainage and wastewater systems over the next 25 years. These plans will help sewerage companies to fully assess the capacity of the drainage and wastewater network and develop collaborative solutions to current problems and future issues.
It is ultimately water companies’ responsibility to maintain and improve their sewage treatment facilities, as needed.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will ensure that local communities are compensated by water companies for sewage discharges.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ofwat, the independent economic regulator, sets specific performance targets for companies in the five-yearly price review. Where companies fail to meet these targets, including pollution incidents, they must reimburse customers through lower water bills.
Additionally, under new proposals set out by this Government on the Guaranteed Standards Scheme, households and businesses will be entitled to higher payments from water companies when basic services are not met. This includes payments for incidents of internal and external sewer flooding to a customer’s property.
In October 2024, the Secretary of State and the Welsh Government launched an Independent Commission, led by Sir Jon Cunliffe, into the water sector and its regulation, in what is expected to form the largest review of the industry since privatisation. These wide-ranging recommendations will form the basis of further legislation to attract long-term investment and clean up our waters for good.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to help reduce the cost of groceries.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government cares deeply about the cost of living and food security; therefore, it closely monitors food prices and the factors impacting them. After a period of high inflation experienced during 2022 and 2023, with a peak at over 19% in March 2023, year-on-year food price inflation (based on ONS CPI data) has been at or below 2% since May 2024. In 2025 food price inflation is expected to remain positive, with current industry forecasts indicating an average rate of 3.4% for 2025.
Defra regularly engages with supermarkets and producers about a number of issues, including to explore the range of measures they can take to ensure the availability of affordable food. For example, by maintaining value ranges, price matching and price freezing measures. However, it is not for HM Government to set retail food prices nor to comment on day-to-day commercial decisions by companies. It is for each individual food retailer to take the commercial decision around which products they sell in their stores. This Government is committed to ensuring that everyone in Great Britain and Northern Ireland can access nutritious and fairly priced food.
To further support struggling families, £1 billion, including Barnett impact, will be invested to extend the Household Support Fund in England by a full year until 31 March 2026, on top of the six months already announced, and to maintain Discretionary Housing Payments in England and Wales.
To support people with the cost of living we are tripling investment in breakfast clubs to over £30 million, introducing a Fair Repayment Rate for deductions from Universal Credit, and increasing the National Living Wage, boosting the pay of 3 million workers.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
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 (a) monitors and (b) tracks sewage discharge into (i) rivers and (ii) seas by (A) location and (B) water company.
Answered by Emma Hardy - 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. This includes providing information on the location and operating water company of each storm overflow. To support this, Water UK have launched a central hub that provides discharge data of every storm overflow in England on a single website.
This has created 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.
In addition to this, the Water (Special Measures) Bill will introduce a duty for water companies to publish data related to discharges from all emergency overflows within one hour of the discharge beginning. This will ensure that every sewage discharge outlet is monitored.