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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what obligations, if any, water companies have to inform anglers of real time sewerage outflows into the sea which may affect the quality of the catch.

This Government has increased the number of storm overflows monitored across the network from approximately 5% in 2016, to nearly 90% in 2021. By 2023 we will have 100% coverage.

Under our landmark Environment Act, we have significantly improved transparency around storm sewer overflow discharges by making it a legal requirement for companies to provide discharge data to the Environment Agency and by 2023 water companies must make it available in near real time to the public. Our Environment Act also places new duties on water companies to monitor the water quality impacts up and downstream of all storm overflows and assets. Anglers will be able to use this data to inform their decisions when choosing where to fish.

The use of storm overflows is strictly set out in Environment Agency permits. If storm overflows operate outside of permit conditions, the EA will take the strongest enforcement action possible. Since 2015, the EA has brought 54 prosecutions against water companies, securing fines of almost £140 million.