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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2020 to Question 106951 on Water Industry (Schemes for Adoption of Private Sewers) Regulations 2011, what (a) plans he has and (b) his timeframe is for completing that review.

Further to my Answer of 29 October 2020 to PQ 106951, I have now reviewed the case for implementing section 42 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.

Section 42 implementation would cover the automatic adoption by sewerage companies of new, not existing, sewerage assets, constructed from the date of implementation.

This year, my Department will start the work necessary to implement section 42. Part of that work will include a consultation on our implementation approach as well as determining the timing for implementation.

Regarding existing sewerage assets, such as private waste-water pumps referenced in PQ 106951, the consultation will seek views on making separate regulations, similar to the Water Industry (Schemes for Adoption of Private Sewers) Regulations 2011, concerning the adoption of those assets by sewerage companies.