Asked by: Fred Thomas (Labour - Plymouth Moor View)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many water supply outages there were in Plymouth in (a) 2022, (b) 2023, (c) 2024 and (d) 2025.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Under the Security and Emergency Measures Direction 2022 (SEMD), all water companies must report to Defra any water outages that impact over 5,000 properties or will last over 24 hours.
In 2025, one incident affecting Plymouth was reported to Defra. Between 21 April and 23 April, a burst water main at a Dousland Water Treatment Works caused a water supply outage to approximately 9,800 properties in Plymouth.
There were no water supply outages in Plymouth reported to Defra in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
Asked by: Fred Thomas (Labour - Plymouth Moor View)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the resilience of the water supply in the long term in Plymouth.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government and the Environment Agency work with water companies and other stakeholders to monitor and manage water resources in England. Water companies are responsible for ensuring a secure water supply for their customers. Plymouth lies in South West Water's Roadford Water Resource Zone, which is supplied from reservoirs, rivers, and some boreholes.
Every 5 years water companies must prepare and maintain a water resources management plan (WRMP). The WRMP sets out how a company intends to achieve a secure supply of water for customers, resilient to droughts, and with environmental protections and enhancements over the next 25 years. WRMP's are closely assessed by Ofwat and the Environment Agency, who advise on the acceptability of plans before companies are given permission to publish by the government.
South West Water's latest draft WRMP, which includes the measures it will take to ensure the resilience of water supply in the Roadford zone, was scrutinised by regulators and given permission for publication in January 2025, subject to some revisions, which the company is currently making.
Asked by: Fred Thomas (Labour - Plymouth Moor View)
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 make an assessment of the potential impact of the (a) increase in biomass of Octopus vulgaris and (b) their predation of shellfish in pots at sea on the livelihoods of (i) crab and (ii) lobster fishermen in Plymouth.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I recently visited the fishing industry in Plymouth and was made aware of reports of an unusual abundance of octopus in the Southwest including Cornwall.
Defra understands this ‘octopus bloom’ is impacting shellfish potting fisheries and causing concern to the fishing industry in the Southwest.
Government scientists, the Marine Management Organisation and local Inshore Fisheries Conservation Authorities have met with Defra on the 20th of May to discuss this phenomenon, the evidence, the impacts on the crab and lobster stocks as well as possible actions.