Oral Answers to Questions

Sarah Olney Excerpts

Thursday 8th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green) (Lab)]

4. What steps he is taking to ensure that untreated sewage is not discharged into rivers, inland waterways and the sea.

[Sarah Olney (Richmond Park) (LD)]

10. What steps he is taking to help ensure sewage is not discharged into UK waterways.

[Kate Osborne (Jarrow) (Lab)]

16. What steps he is taking to ensure that untreated sewage is not discharged into rivers, inland waterways and the sea.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Jayawardena]

First, it is this Government who introduced the monitoring that allows us to know what is going on. Secondly, it was this Government who introduced the Environment Act 2021, which allows the Environment Agency to levy unlimited fines on water companies.

[Sarah Olney]

We all looked on in horror at the viral images of beaches in Sussex being destroyed by disgusting sewage overflows. I have heard that businesses in the area that are very reliant on income from tourists—from beachside cafés in Seaford to tourist hotspots in Eastbourne—have lost money because beaches were shut and people were put off swimming in poisoned water. Will the Minister demand that Southern Water compensates Sussex seaside businesses?

[Mr Jayawardena]

First, I have already set out to the House what I intend to do. Secondly, I would observe that the Liberal Democrats’ plan is simply to play politics with this serious issue. When they were in government they did not take the action that we have done now. Sadly—and this is the serious point—what they are calling for in their leaflets is for sewage to flow back into people’s homes, because that is the consequence of what they are proposing.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

And the great county of Lancashire.

[Sarah Olney (Richmond Park) (LD)]

T4. The Government have said that they aspire to be a global leader in animal welfare, yet only one of the three animal welfare Bills proposed in the 2021 Queen’s Speech has since been enshrined into law. Earlier this year the Government scrapped the Animals Abroad Bill entirely, which would have ensured that cruel animal practices abroad were not supported by the UK consumer market. Does the Minister agree that a country that cares for animals as much as we do should play no part in the import of fur, foie gras and hunting trophies?

[Mr Jayawardena]

We have long set out that we have no plans to change our animal welfare, food safety or environmental standards, and that remains the case.