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

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to direct the Environment Agency to revise all permits issued in respect of water company sewage discharges under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, so that those permits fully reflect the combined obligations of the Urban Waste Water Treatment (England and Wales) Regulations 1994 and the judgment in the case of Commission v UK, case C-301/10, of 18 October 2012.

Under the Urban Waste Water Treatment (England and Wales) Regulations 1994, storm overflows are investigated using an Environment Agency framework, the Storm Overflow Assessment Framework. This framework is consistent with the Court of Justice of the be put European Union’s (CJEU) judgment in the Commission v UK case. Where upgrades or solutions are identified under this framework, the Environment Agency require that improvements in place as soon as reasonably practicable and are accompanied by necessary permit variations by the Environment Agency to reflect those requirements.