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 bring forward legislative proposals to end sewage discharges into bathing waters by 2030.

Over £2.5 billion has been invested by English water companies to improve bathing water quality since privatisation. In the early 1990s, just 28 per cent of bathing waters met the highest standards in force at that time. By 2019 this had gone up to 98.3% of bathing waters in England passing the minimum standard. Of these, 72% of bathing waters were classified as 'Excellent' - the highest water quality standard.

Tackling sewage discharges into all our waters, including bathing waters is one of my priorities. I set up the Storm Overflows Taskforce, which brings together Government, the water industry, regulators and environmental NGOs. This Taskforce has now agreed to a long-term goal to eliminate harm from storm overflows.

Between 2020 and 2025, water companies will invest £3.1 billion in storm overflow improvements. This includes £1.9 billion investment on the Thames Tideway Tunnel super sewer, as well as £1.2 billion of other investment throughout England. £143 million of this is new, additional investment as a result of a call to action from the Storm Overflows Taskforce.

I recognise there is more to be done. On 8 June 2021 the Government tabled amendments to the Environment Bill to introduce measures on storm overflows. These measures complement the ongoing work of the Storm Overflows Taskforce by implementing a statutory requirement for the Government to produce a plan to reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows by September 2022 and to report progress to Parliament on implementing that plan.

We are also introducing duties requiring water companies and the Environment Agency to publish data on storm overflow operations on an annual basis. These legally-binding obligations on water companies and government will help to reduce pollution in rivers - protecting wildlife and public health.

Water companies are for the first time currently producing comprehensive Drainage and Sewerage Management Plans to assess the capacity of their wastewater networks. We are also taking steps through the Environment Bill to require water companies to produce such Plans on a statutory basis. These plans will be another tool to help address the risks that storm overflows pose to the environment.