Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of failures in sewage treatment, storm overflow management, or water quality monitoring on the level cases of Shigella-causing infections among children at beaches in the North West.

The department is taking action to rebuild the water network to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas. For example, in one of the largest infrastructure projects in this country’s history, £104 billion is being invested to upgrade crumbling pipes and sewage treatment works across the country. Water companies are investing over £11 billion in PR24, a record amount, to improve nearly 3,000 storm overflows across England and Wales over the next five years. For England, this equates to over £10 billion to improve over 2,500 storm overflows.

Our landmark Water (Special Measures) Act will also introduce independent monitoring of every sewerage outlet, with water companies required to publish real-time data for all emergency overflows.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) undertakes routine monitoring of notifiable diseases and causative agents which includes Shigella species. There is no evidence of Shigella linked to exposure to recreational waters at beaches in the North West.