Coastal Areas and Rivers: Sewage

(asked on 29th November 2021) - View Source

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) how many, and (2) which, measures they intend to take to reduce sewage discharges into rivers and coastal waters in the current price review.


This question was answered on 13th December 2021

Water companies set out the measures that are to be taken as part of a price review period in their business plans. For 2020-2025, water companies have committed £3.1 billion to a programme of improvements to monitoring and management of sewer overflows, including £1.9 billion of investment in the Thames Tideway Tunnel. This will deliver over 800 improvement schemes in response to Event Duration Monitoring insights and implementing additional monitoring to cover 100% of the network by the end of 2023.

Companies have also already re-opened their business plans as part of our efforts to build back greener from the pandemic. In July 2021, Ofwat approved a draft package of over £2.7 billion and as part of this new package of investment, companies committed an additional £144 million to help eliminate the harm caused by Storm Overflows and to trial the creation of two bathing rivers.

However, the Government has been clear that the current number of sewage discharges is unacceptable and that there is more to do. We have made tackling this a priority and are the first Government to take concerted action to tackle this historic infrastructure issue.

In July, the Government published a new draft set of strategic priorities for the water industry's financial regulator, Ofwat. In this publication, the Government set out its expectation that water companies must take steps to "significantly reduce the frequency and volume of sewage discharges from storm overflows."

The Environment Act then placed this direction on a statutory footing, setting a duty for water companies to achieve a progressive reduction in the adverse impacts of discharges from Storm Overflows. Defra intends to set out the level of ambition expected by this in due course.

Precisely which measures will be achieved by Water and Sewerage Companies in the next price review period will be a case for the Environment Agency and Water Companies to agree in the Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) and will be reflected in water company business plans, but we have been clear that increased ambition is needed, and this will be laid out early in the new year.

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