Oral Answers to Questions

Emma Hardy Excerpts

Thursday 4th September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Patrick Hurley (Southport) (Lab)]

6. What progress he has made on reducing pollution in bathing waters.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Emma Hardy)]

We have introduced a new era of accountability. We are resetting, reforming and revolutionising the water sector, putting public health and the environment first and delivering the change rightly demanded by the British people. With the most ambitious targets on sewage water pollution in history, we will halve sewage water pollution by 2030.

[Patrick Hurley]

Over the summer, we saw the announcement of a £50 million investment into Southport’s waste water treatment works to reduce the number of sewage overflows to just three per bathing season, allowing Southport to once again become the jewel in the crown of the north-west coast. Does the Minister agree that that level of investment is very much needed after more than a decade of Tory neglect of our waterways, and that it shows the difference a town can see when it has a Labour MP, a Labour council, a Labour metro mayor and a Labour Government here in Westminster?

[Mr Speaker]

Minister, that is a tough one.

[Emma Hardy]

Unsurprisingly, I could not agree more. I thank my hon. Friend for his work to champion his community here in Parliament. The previous Government oversaw record levels of sewage pollution in our rivers, lakes and seas, but this Government have secured £104 billion of private investment to upgrade crumbling pipes and halve sewage pollution by 2030, so that communities can once again take pride in their rivers, lakes and seas.

[Ellie Chowns (North Herefordshire) (Green)]

As I have reminded Ministers on a number of occasions, tackling pollution in our rivers and seas requires us to address agricultural pollution as well as sewage pollution. I am disappointed not to hear the Minister mention that, but I like to come with solutions. I recently visited the Wyescapes landscape recovery project in my constituency, which is an innovative farmer-led project of 49 farmers protecting soil, reducing pollution, restoring nature and producing great-quality food. Will the Minister, or perhaps her colleague the Farming Minister, come to visit this innovative project to see how we can tackle river pollution and protect nature and food production?

[Mr Speaker]

Another Adjournment debate needed.

[Emma Hardy]

The hon. Lady raises a really important point. Agricultural pollution is incredibly serious, and this Government recognise that. We have updated the DEFRA statutory guidance for the farming rules for water, and I recently hosted a roundtable with farmers, environmental organisations and the water industry to bring the voices of stakeholders to the fore. We have committed to including a new regional element in the new regulator to ensure greater involvement in water planning. By moving to a catchment-based model for water systems planning, we can tackle all sources of pollution entering the waterways, including agricultural pollution.

I have a very keen interest in the River Wye; I went to see it last year, and it is absolutely beautiful. The hon. Lady will be well aware of the research project with £1 million of funding that we announced to look into all sources of pollution and what we can do to clean up this beautiful place in our country.

[Noah Law (St Austell and Newquay) (Lab)]

I welcome the fact that the rolling reporting of dry-day spills has become mandatory under our Government, but it has unfortunately laid bare the track record of South West Water, which is among the worst offenders on dry-day spills. What steps is the Minister taking to ensure that companies such as South West Water feel the full force of the law with regard to dry-day spills?

[Emma Hardy]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to be angry about the state in which our rivers, lakes and seas have been left, and I recognise the trouble that a failing water company causes for his constituency. That is why we have committed to resetting, reforming and revolutionising the water sector and why we are establishing a new, single and powerful regulator that can fully hold all companies to account and ensure that they are delivering for the British people and cleaning up our waterways for good.

[Helen Morgan (North Shropshire) (LD)]

Run-off from chicken manure is a particular problem in the bathing waters and rivers in Shropshire. I have visited both Harper Adams University and LOHAS Fertiliser in my constituency, which have great new technologies to deal with chicken manure, stabilise it and moving that great fertiliser to other parts of the country where it causes fewer problems. However, they cannot scale up, so what steps is the Minister taking to enable the new technologies that could deal with some of these problems to be scaled up and used across the country?

[Emma Hardy]

The hon. Lady raises a really interesting point—it is perhaps worrying how interested I am getting in what we can do with manure and human waste to provide organic fertiliser in our country. She has given a brilliant example of what can be done, and I will make sure that the Minister who is responsible for the circular economy, my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry East (Mary Creagh), gets to hear about it and learn more.

--- Later in debate ---

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

T3. Brits chew 4 billion pieces of plastic chewing gum each year. A single piece releases thousands of microplastics into the body that are linked to cancer, diabetes and strokes. Will the Government consider commissioning independent research into the environmental and health implications of plastic chewing gum?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Emma Hardy)]

I thank the hon. Lady for her important question, and I share her concern about the risks that microplastics may pose to the environment and human health. That is why we are looking at all sources of pollution that enter our rivers, lakes and seas, but there is obviously more work to be done to improve our understanding. The Environment Agency is collaborating with different sectors, including the water industry and National Highways, to increase our evidence base and knowledge of these materials.

May I also express my disappointment about the global plastics treaty? We were unable to reach an international agreement, but I reassure all Members of the House that the Government remain committed to seeking a global solution to the problem of plastic pollution that we all face.

[Adam Thompson (Erewash) (Lab)]

T4.  Erewash’s industrial base was built on the Erewash canal, which is now a lovely leisure spot for my constituents. But abandoned boats, like the two near Sandiacre lock that sat rotting for over two years, pose serious risks to public safety and local wildlife. I was very glad to work recently with the Canal & River Trust to get those two boats removed. Can the Minister advise how we can support the Canal & River Trust in the future with the tools that it needs to get similar boats removed in a more timely manner?

[Emma Hardy]

I commend my hon. Friend for his successful championing of this issue on behalf of his constituents. I know how much it means to his community to have such boats removed. It is an important issue, and I am more than happy to follow up with the Canal & River Trust in order to understand if it needs any additional tools to continue and complete this work around the country.

[James MacCleary (Lewes) (LD)]

T5. I recently spoke to David, who farms near the village of Berwick in my constituency. He told me that he has recently given up raising livestock altogether due to the lack of local abattoirs—his nearest option is well over an hour away. What action are the Government taking to support new and existing abattoirs, so that farmers across the country who are in a similar situation to David do not stop raising livestock too?