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 take enforcement action against Thames Water in response to sewer flooding in the Runnymede and Weybridge Constituency.

The Environment Agency (EA) assesses all incident reports and responds to those which pose the greatest risk to the environment. The EA has received one recent report of sewer flooding in the Runnymede and Weybridge Constituency (since 1 September 2024). This related to the hydraulic overload of Thames Water’s sewer network and was assessed as having a low impact on the environment. The EA has no plans for enforcement action relating to this incident in line with its Enforcement & Sanctions Policy.

This policy has been in place since December 2023. The current Government is examining ways to strengthen these powers.