Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 ensure water companies assess the levels of lead in domestic drinking water supplies.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Water companies are required to risk assess drinking water supplies from source to tap. Where there is a risk of lead in the water exceeding 10mg/l, water companies will treat the water with orthophosphate which reduces lead leaching significantly. In 2023, only 0.35% of these breached the standard for lead. In these instances, water companies will provide public health advice to consumers impacted and, where necessary, will look to replace the pipework owned by them.
The Drinking Water Inspectorate has provided advice for consumers to better understand if they have lead pipe in their home and how to reduce the risk, for example by running water to remove standing water in the pipes before use (https://www.dwi.gov.uk/lead-in-drinking-water/). If consumers think there is a risk to their supply, they can request a lead test from their water company.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 merits of instructing water companies to test all households in receipt of water if it is determined that lead is present in their water source.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Water companies are responsible for drinking water quality to the boundary of a consumer’s property. The domestic plumbing system is the responsibility of the home/building owner and therefore there may be limitations, such as access constraints, which limit the ability to sample at every customer tap. Though, water companies are required to risk assess drinking water supplies from source to tap and will, where appropriate required, treat water.
The Drinking Water Inspectorate has provided advice for consumers to better understand if they have lead pipe in their home and how to reduce the risk, for example by running water to remove standing water in the pipes before use (https://www.dwi.gov.uk/lead-in-drinking-water/). If consumers think there is a risk to their supply, they can request a lead test from their water company.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with water companies on the replacement of water pipes to households in which lead has been found in the household water supply in York constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State has already met CEOs of all 16 water companies, including Yorkshire Water, setting out his expectations from the Government going forward. The Secretary of State and the Minister for Water and Flooding will have further conversations with water company chief executives in due course, including with Yorkshire Water, on a range of issues.
On 11th July 2024, Ofwat published its Draft Determinations for 2025-2030 outlining that Yorkshire Water will spend just over £7 billion to deliver significant improvements in performance. This includes £77 million to be spent on improving water quality, which includes replacing lead pipes in the company's network.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to use the Government's tree planting programme to tackle (a) flooding and (b) upper catchment management of rivers.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Tree planting can help us meet a wide range of strategic objectives, including the 25 Year Environment Plan’s commitment to limit damage to rivers and the pledge to reduce flooding through natural flood management solutions.
The England Woodland Creation Offer recognises the benefits of planting riparian buffers through specific Additional Contributions. These contributions support riparian tree planting, flood management and improved water quality.
The Government is also supporting woodland creation along rivers through the ‘Woodlands for Water’ project. This pilot project works with the Riverscapes Partnership to facilitate the creation of riparian woodland corridors in six river catchment areas.
This year we are introducing an action into the Sustainable Farming Incentive for the management of habitat strips next to watercourses. This will support the planting of trees and scrub for biodiversity, flooding and water quality benefits.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of (a) sewage and (b) other contaminants in the river system on the food chain.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government's Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan (SODRP) was extended in 2023 with further stringent targets on the use of storm overflows to protect people and the environment, prioritising for early action areas used for bathing, for growing shellfish, or with high ecological importance.
This plan will eliminate ecological harm from all storm sewage discharges by 2050, protecting biodiversity the ecology of our rivers and seas, and the public health of our water users for generations to come. In addition to the formulation of the SODRP, we produced an impact assessment which assesses the quality of evidence regarding environmental, public health and social impacts of storm overflow operation.
The SODRP targets will be reviewed in 2027 when new information is available to see if water companies can go further or faster.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 that devolved regions in Yorkshire develop a strategic plan for water and sewage management.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In January 2023, the Government published its Environmental Improvement Plan. This included a commitment for more joined up management of the water system. The current water and floods policy and legal framework has been developed incrementally over time, resulting in over 15 national plans and strategic documents. Whilst each plan has its own purpose, we want to make the whole framework more outcome-focussed and fully integrated with other environmental plans and government delivery plans. We reiterated this commitment in our landmark Plan for Water published in April 2023.
The Government recognises the importance of having a robust drainage system both now and for future demand. To improve the strategic management of drainage and target investment appropriately to meet future needs, water and sewerage companies have produced 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, including how the drainage network will adapt to changes such as an increasing population and urban creep. Water companies in England (including Yorkshire Water) have already produced one round of DWMPs, with the final plans published in Summer 2023. As committed to in the Plan for Water and the Environmental Improvement Plan, DWMPs will be placed on a statutory footing for the next cycle (2024-2029), in line with the ambition laid out in section 79 of the Environment Act 2021. Statutory planning will help to ensure that sewerage companies fully assess the wastewater and sewerage network capacity and promote closer working and development of collaborative solutions with others who are responsible for parts of the drainage network, such as local authorities. Combined with other water plans and initiatives, DWMPs will help to ensure drainage and wastewater services are better managed and properly supported, as well as delivering greater efficiencies for customers and supporting investment in nature-based solutions.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 work with metro mayors on delivering the White Rose forest objectives.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The White Rose Forest is the community forest for North and West Yorkshire, working in partnership with local authorities, landowners, businesses and communities to increase woodland across the region and improve our natural environment. To deliver the objectives of our Community Forests and Woodland Creation Partnerships Defra works with a wide range of stakeholders in local government, the NGO sector and beyond.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 encourage agencies involved in water management to produce joint plans.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In January 2023, the Government published its Environmental Improvement Plan. This included a commitment for more joined up management of the water system. The current water and floods policy and legal framework has been developed incrementally over time, resulting in over 15 national plans and strategic documents. Whilst each plan has its own purpose, we want to make the whole framework more outcome-focussed and fully integrated with other environmental plans and government delivery plans. We reiterated this commitment in our landmark Plan for Water published in April 2023.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 work with metro mayors to create a plan for flooding across Yorkshire.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Lead Local Flood Authorities have a duty to develop, maintain, apply and monitor a strategy for local flood risk management in its area, and the Government is supportive of them working together to deliver shared mitigations for a wider area.
The Government has committed to reform the current approach to local flood risk planning by 2026, ensuring every area of England will have a more strategic and comprehensive plan that drives long-term local action and investment and supports a catchment-based approach. To strengthen collaboration, we will encourage flood and coastal erosion risk management activities across local authority boundaries and explore options to join up flood resilience with other responsibilities held by Mayors or Combined Authorities.
As part of the Government’s six-year £200 million flood and coastal innovation programme (FCIP), £8 million is allocated to four adaptation pathways to support work in the Thames and Humber estuaries, the Severn Valley and Yorkshire to trial and develop ways of planning ahead and making wise investment choices for the decades to come in the face of the long-term uncertainties brought by climate change. The West Yorkshire Adaption Pathway (WYAP) project is developing a community-scale surface water flood risk adaptation plan for a town in West Yorkshire. The South Yorkshire Adaption Pathway (SYAP) project aims to develop an adaptation pathway plan for South Yorkshire which will ensure that all decision-making on, and implementation of, long-term, future adaptation is as efficient and effective as possible.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what compensation do water companies who have released sewage into the river pay to (a) residents and (b) businesses when they flood with contaminated water.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government considers the level of sewage being discharged to our waterways to be unacceptable. However, sewage is sometimes released to waterways under strict conditions to avoid it backing up into peoples’ homes and businesses.
Water companies are obliged to provide sewerage services under the Water Industry Act 1991. If a water company has failed to provide minimum standards of service to consumers, consumers are entitled to complain to their provider. We expect companies to respond to complaints appropriately and in a timely manner.
This Government is acting to drive down flood risk from every angle. At the last spending review the government increased funding for maintenance of flood defences by £22 million per year, so now over £200 million per year goes on maintenance. This funding ensures flood defences are kept in good working order.
Homeowners and businesses should contact their insurance provider if their property has been flooded. Flood Re is a joint government and insurance industry re-insurance scheme for UK households at high flood risk, available via more than 85 insurance brands.