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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help reduce the (a) number and (b) duration of sewage discharges into waterways in Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend constituency.

For too long, water companies have discharged unacceptable levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas.

The Government remains committed to reducing both the frequency and duration of storm overflow spills, in line with the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan (SODRP). The SODRP will eliminate ecological harm from all storm sewage discharges by 2050.

The Water (Special Measures) Act is introducing independent monitoring of every sewerage outlet, with water companies required to publish real-time data for all emergency overflows. Discharges will have to be reported within an hour of the initial spill. This will match the pre-existing duty for storm overflows. This will meet the Government commitment to ensure monitoring of every outlet.

Furthermore, the Independent Water Commission, led by Sir Jon Cunliffe, will recommend reforms to reset the water sector. The Independent Water Commission: interim report was released on 03 June 2025. Final recommendations will be published this summer and presented to both the UK and Welsh Governments.

As part of Price Review 2024 (2025-30), Northumbrian Water is investing £1.1 billion to reduce storm overflow spills by 28% by investing in 159 spill reduction schemes. As part of this cycle, 23 investigations and asset improvements are planned across the Newcastle upon Tyne and Wallsend constituency.