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

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the average volume of storm sewage discharge has reduced since the completion of the scheme at the Whitburn long sea outfall in December 2017 compared to the average volume when using the previous system.

Based on the current available data there has been an approximate 37% reduction in spill numbers and a 43% reduction in spill volume since the completion of the enhancement works, against the average for the previous ten year period.

Prior to the completion of the enhancement works at Whitburn long sea outfall, records showed an average of 27 storm sewage discharge ‘spills’ totalling around 660,000 cubic metres each year for the ten year period from 2008 to 2017.

In 2018, the first year of operation for the enhanced system, records show 17 storm sewage discharge ‘spills’ totalling around 380,000 cubic metres.