Independent Water Commission

Debate between Jess Brown-Fuller and Steve Reed

Monday 21st July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Steve Reed]

I was slightly confused by that question, if I am honest. My hon. Friend is very brave to go swimming in the North sea, but I know that many people enjoy that. The changes that we are making will bring about effective regulation and appropriate levels of investment and protect customers from the shocking bill hikes that we saw last year, which were the direct result of 14 years of failure by the Conservative Government. I am sure my hon. Friend’s constituents will welcome that.

[Jess Brown-Fuller (Chichester) (LD)]

I thank the Secretary of State for his statement. Environment Agency data showed a 60% increase in serious pollution incidents last year, so the target of halving spills over five years would still mean nearly a quarter of a million sewage spills happening annually by 2030. When we drink a glass of water, we measure it by how much we drink, not the time it takes to drink. To make a real difference to places like Chichester harbour and the River Lavant in my constituency, will the Government look at the volume rather than the hours of spills happening?

[Steve Reed]

The target for reduction uses as its baseline the 2024 figure, not the 2021 figure used by the previous Government, recognising the extent to which sewage pollution increased between ’21 and ’24. I want to recognise the scale of the problem and then work to solve it from that point. We have announced the most ambitious target for sewage pollution reduction of any Government ever, and that is not the end of our ambition; there will be further to go until we restore all our waterways, including the beautiful Chichester harbour, back to purity.

Independent Water Commission

Debate between Jess Brown-Fuller and Steve Reed

Wednesday 23rd October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Jess Brown-Fuller (Chichester) (LD)]

The statement from the Secretary of State is welcome, but passionate campaigners in my constituency will be concerned that, when we already know the dire state of our rivers and water courses, a review will potentially push the can down the road and delay the changes that we so desperately need. Will the commission set a deadline by which water companies have to prevent all sewage discharges in sensitive sites, including chalk streams such as the Lavant and Ems in my constituency?

[Steve Reed]

We certainly know the dire state of our waterways. We also need to know in detail the root and branch reforms required to make the corrections. We will have that from this commission by next summer, and I hope the hon. Lady will take part in that. We need to clean up all of our waterways, including those very important ones to which she refers.