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 introduce a legally binding target to reduce sewage discharges by 90% by 2030.

The Government is clear that the amount of sewage discharged into our waters is unacceptable. Through the Government's Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan, we have set stringent targets for water companies to reduce the use of storm overflows, driving the largest infrastructure programme in water company history of £60 billion over 25 years. These stringent targets will prevent hundreds of thousands of storm overflow discharges every year.

If it is possible to go further and faster while balancing the cost to consumers, we will not hesitate to do so. The Government will review the targets in 2027, so that we stay as ambitious as possible, while balancing the impact on bills.