My ministerial colleagues and I are very clear that the volume of sewage in our rivers is completely unacceptable, and the Government is committed to tackling storm overflows and protecting public health and the environment from discharges. This is the first Government in history to take such comprehensive action to tackle storm overflows, driving forward more investment, stronger regulation, and tougher enforcement.
My Conservative colleagues and I have only ever voted to strengthen requirements on water companies and the Government. Since the UK left the EU, the Environment Act 2021 has added to and strengthened our laws on water quality. In addition, the UK remains bound by the Water Framework Directive targets that it had under the EU.
In August 2022, the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan was launched, setting out stringent targets to protect people and the environment, backed up by up to £60 billion capital investment, which is the largest infrastructure programme in water company history. Legally binding through the Environment Act 2021, the plan prioritises storm overflows that could cause the most harm while balancing the impact on consumer bills. Storm overflows are safety valves on our sewage network that automatically discharge when the system reaches capacity. This prevents sewage from backing up into people’s homes, businesses, and the street, or bursting mains water pipes.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) will tighten permits issued to water companies for storm overflows to ensure water companies deliver the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan’s targets. Water companies must increase their network capacity and treat sewage before discharge, while massively reducing all discharges.
The Government, the Environment Agency (EA) and Ofwat are working to increase the accountability of water companies. This includes increasing monitoring the frequency and duration of discharges, from approximately 7 per cent in 2010 to 91 per cent now, with 100 per cent coverage by the end of 2023.
In February, the then Secretary of State asked water companies to set action plans for all storm overflows in England, prioritising those spilling more than a certain number of times a year, and those spilling into high priority nature sites.
These sites include designated bathing waters, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Special Areas of Conservation, as well as chalk streams. This means that the Government is frontloading action in the most urgent and ecologically sensitive areas to deliver most benefit to the environment and the public.
By 2050, all remaining storm overflows covered by our targets will also have to meet the new requirements on rainfall and environmental impact, regardless of location. I am assured that this plan will protect biodiversity, the ecology of our rivers and seas, and the public health of our water users for generations to come.
The Government’s enhanced, world-leading monitoring programme, will require water companies to monitor and report, in near-real time, the impact that storm overflows and sewage treatment works have on water quality.
Finally, following a consultation on strengthening fines for polluters, the Government tabled legislation to remove the limit of £250,000 that can be imposed for environmental offences. This will mean that penalties can be proportionate to the degree of environmental harm and culpability and can act as a powerful deterrent. This will also offer regulators a quicker method of enforcement than lengthy criminal prosecutions, although I am aware that the most serious cases will continue to be taken through criminal proceedings. As set out in the Government’s Plan for Water, future environmental fines from water companies will be re-invested into a new Water Restoration Fund.
I appreciate we all would like to see these changes happen immediately, however, the preliminary cost of the required infrastructure changes was estimated to be between £150bn and £650bn. Unless we asked taxpayers to contribute to this, most of the water companies who would be carrying out this work would have gone bankrupt, meaning that the work would not have been completed anyway. Furthermore, the cost, on each household, of imposing legal duties on the companies to reduce discharges was estimated to be between £5,000 and £20,000.
We are the only party with a clear, costed plan to deal with sewage overflows and tackle this serious issue. Nobody thinks sewage discharging into our rivers and seas is acceptable - we are delivering real change now.