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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the recent increase in water consumption by households across Wolverhampton compared to normal levels of consumption; and what assessment he has made of the reasons for that increase.

We know that demand for water has increased in the recent months. Three main factors have contributed to this:

• A period of significantly less rainfall than average
• Hot weather
• Behavioural changes as a result of lockdown, such as recreational use of water and personal hygiene

Severn Trent is the water supplier for Wolverhampton. The CEO of Severn Trent Water attended the National Drought Group chaired by the Environment Agency on 5 June 2020 to discuss the current risks and approaches to the dry weather and water demand management.

The link to their annual performance report, which includes information on consumption, for 2019 is: www.stwater.co.uk/content/dam/stw/regulatory-library/STW-Annual-performance-report%202018-19.pdf