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 make an assessment of (a) the potential merits of compensating coastal communities disproportionately affected by sewage discharges for the environmental and economic damage caused and (b) whether such compensation could be funded through the water company regulatory framework.

Ofwat, the independent economic regulator, sets specific performance targets for companies in the five-yearly price review. Where companies fail to meet these targets, including pollution incidents, they must reimburse customers through lower water bills.

Additionally, under new proposals set out by this government on the Guaranteed Standards Scheme, households and businesses will be entitled to higher payments from water companies when basic services are not met. This includes payments for incidents of internal and external sewer flooding to a customer’s property.

On 23 October, the Secretary of State and the Welsh Government launched an Independent Commission into the water sector and its regulation, in what is expected to form the largest review of the industry since privatisation. These recommendations will form the basis of further legislation to attract long-term investment and clean up our waters for good.