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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to introduce a legally binding target to reduce sewage discharges by 90 per cent by 2030.

Our Storm Overflows Plan balances ambition and pace to clean up our water and protect the environment with impact on consumer bills. Our Plan will see £56 billion capital investment, and an estimated £12 average increase in customer water bills between 2025 and 2030. We ruled out options adding £122 to household bills per year for the same period.

The Government will review the targets in 2027. If it is possible to go further and faster while balancing the cost to consumers, we will not hesitate to do so and have made this clear to the water industry.