Sewage Pollution

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Lucas questioned the Government's complacency and urgency regarding sewage discharges, highlighting the delays in addressing pollution until 2035 for designated areas and 2050 elsewhere. She also criticised the legalisation of sewage discharge during non-heavy rainfall periods, cuts to the Environment Agency under a previous Minister, and dividends awarded to shareholders. Additionally, she raised concerns about compensation for businesses negatively impacted by such discharges.

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Mr Bottomley questioned whether nationalised industries would have allowed sufficient investment and inquired about the level of knowledge held by companies, regulators, and the Environment Agency regarding sewage discharges.

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Mr McMahon criticised the Government for allowing sewage discharges into beaches, playing fields, streams, and bathing waters. He pointed out that 18 spills will occur during his speech's duration and accused the water companies of profiting while dumping raw sewage.

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Mr Goodwill asked whether the Secretary of State agreed that private sector investment has led to improvements in water treatment works, citing specific examples in Scarborough.

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Ms Hillier questioned why prosecutions and fines were not leading to quicker investments to prevent sewage discharges, citing a specific incident in the River Lea.

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Mr Hudson thanked the Secretary of State for his clarity in addressing sewage discharges, criticising the Liberal Democrats' approach.

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Mr Farron raised specific instances of sewage discharges in different locations, questioning the legality of these actions and the water companies' profits.

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Ms Pow thanked her right hon. Friend for prioritising sewage discharge issues and emphasised the importance of regulator actions and water company accountability.

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Ms Duffield expressed concern over sewage discharges affecting her constituency and invited a Minister to meet local groups.

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Asks about the River Wye being threatened by phosphate pollution, which crosses borders between Wales and England, and suggests future administrations should press cross-border issues for improvement.

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Raises concerns about significant sewage releases into the River Mersey by United Utilities and demands quicker infrastructure investment.

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Questions whether targets set for reducing sewage discharge are adequate, particularly in Cleethorpes.

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Raises issue of sewage dumping on beaches in her constituency and questions the £660 billion cost estimate for sewer upgrades.

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Asks for Welsh Government responsibility in addressing sewage discharge issues around Anglesey.

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Describes ecological disaster in Tees bay involving dead marine life, pyridine levels, and dredging concerns.

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Highlights combined sewer overflow issues in his constituency, suggesting the origin of the problem lies with Victorian drainage systems.

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Asks for South West Water to publish a full list of sewage outlets intended to be closed.

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Raises issues regarding overflows in the Isle of Wight and suggests bringing forward legal timescales for action.

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The Secretary of State continues to talk about the discharges and how he is trying to catch up with the water companies, but the reality is that we should be surcharging the water companies for the continuous abuse of our rivers, streams, play areas, seas, and everywhere this gets into. He suggests bringing prosecutions where a company is in breach of its permits, but if they cannot pay the surcharge, he should bring this back into public ownership.

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The Secretary of State’s plan prioritises bathing waters in near-term investments, but may I ask him to ensure that the areas that do not have good-quality bathing have a higher degree of prioritisation?

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While water companies such as Northumbria Water have made on average £2 billion profit a year since privatisation, filthy raw sewage is being dumped into our playing fields, beaches and waters. Will the Secretary of State act on this immediately or is he content with environmentally criminal behaviour?

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What we need is better inspection and enforcement by the Environment Agency, and better explanations from water companies when spills occur. If they are lacking, the companies need to be penalised.

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Despite 12 years of Tory government, tonnes of sewage are discharged daily by United Utilities in my constituency. The current system is not working.

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What progress is being made to require water companies to provide additional investment for microbiological treatment to prevent things like E. coli contamination?

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All these years of privatisation and the billions paid out in dividends have meant not enough investment, leading to excessive sewage discharges. Should we bring our water industry into public ownership?

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Can the Secretary of State confirm that without our work, we would never have highlighted improper use of storm overflows?

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Water privatisation has been a miserable failure, and most water companies are owned by foreign investment companies.

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Please will he use his time in office to stop Natural England from pursuing the moratorium policy?

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Why has the situation got worse over 33 years since privatisation?

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Constituents in Ilkley are suffering from repeated sewage spills into the River Wharfe due to a malfunctioning manhole cover. Does the Secretary of State agree that Yorkshire Water needs to address this issue urgently?

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A constituent's home was damaged due to sewage overflow caused by heavy rainfall. Yorkshire Water refuses compensation, citing outdated legislation. Should we amend laws so that water companies are responsible for compensating affected residents?

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What can be done about the River Gipping which has become polluted with algae and shopping trolleys? Who should take responsibility for improving its condition?

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South West Water received a one-star rating from the Environment Agency but executives still got bonuses worth £2.2 million over two years. How does the Secretary of State feel about this situation?

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In Cornwall, the problem of sewage pollution affecting shell fishermen is serious. Should water companies face unlimited fines and criminal penalties if they do not comply with their obligations?

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Pollution incidents must be treated as strict liability offences with the Environment Agency having immediate powers to stop such discharges. How does the Minister feel about this suggestion?

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Pollution incidents in North Devon are down by 83% this year compared to last year due to improved monitoring. Does the Secretary of State agree that misinformation about this issue can harm coastal businesses?

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Northumbrian Water discharged large amounts of raw sewage into rivers in Durham last year. Does the Minister believe that cuts to the Environment Agency's budget have impacted monitoring and enforcement?

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Is it prudent to eliminate all storm overflows given the potential financial burden of £600 billion, which would significantly increase household water bills?

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Wet wipes are causing significant pollution in the Thames. When will the results of the consultation on banning non-biodegradable wet wipes be released?

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Severn Trent Water has committed to cutting discharges by 85% by the end of 2024. Should these companies face consequences if they do not meet their commitments?

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It must be apparent from the response to the news of the combined sewer overflows that the public, our constituents, do not believe we are doing enough to stop them happening. Last year, the Government had the chance to go further in the Environment Act 2021, but did not do so. People are concerned about the impact on their health and the environment. What assessment has the Secretary of State made of the health impact of CSOs, and will he look at speeding up the timetable for stopping them?

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I am very proud to have the Rivers Usk and Wye in my constituency but, as has already been said, the Wye flows from my constituency into England and back again. Last year, I asked the then Environment Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton Deane (Rebecca Pow), to chair a roundtable of all parties with her counterpart in the Welsh Government. She kindly agreed to that, but the Welsh Labour Minister told me there was no value in such a meeting. Can the Secretary of State advise me on how we can drag the Welsh Government to the table and engage with them on this issue?

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Could the Secretary of State send a copy of the statement he has made today to those people who claim to run Thames Water? So far in their correspondence with me they have refused to give any undertakings about keeping drains and overflows clear. They also refused to attend two public meetings in Leytonstone in my constituency on the flooding—in fact, getting a papal audience would be easier than getting constructive information from Thames Water. I hope I am wrong about this, but despite the Secretary of State’s best efforts I suspect that Thames Water will continue to treat elected representatives and consumers with contempt.

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Does the Secretary of State agree that what we need in this debate is some cool, some balance and to deal in the facts? There has been some deeply grubby, irresponsible scaremongering over the summer from some of the usual suspects. In the spirit of honesty and truth—I appreciate that 2035 is a long way away; too long for many of my constituents—can the Secretary of State tell the House the cold, hard choices that he and his potential successor face, and I suppose therefore water bill payers in our constituencies face, to speed things up significantly?

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We have heard this afternoon of the ecological impact that many of these sewage discharges have on rivers and coastal areas, as well as public health concerns that arise from them. Does the Secretary of State agree that perhaps compensation should be considered for those communities impacted, which might prove an incentive to water companies to speed up some of their work?

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My beautiful South West Hertfordshire constituency has the River Chess going through it. Jon Tyler is the last watercress farmer along the River Chess. Can my right hon. Friend give me assurance that the Environment Act, as is, is the best way to ensure that his business remains successful in the years to come?

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I did not realise that the Government’s plan for biodiversity net gain was simply to boost the level of E. coli and Campylobacter in our rivers and waterways. That is a serious point, because earlier this summer the chief medical officer, Ofwat and the Environment Agency set out that they have real concerns about the spread of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in our waterways, not just because of sewage from storm overflows, but because of normal sewage treatment works. What is the wait? Why have we been waiting 28 years to ban that outright?

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My constituents in Mid Sussex have rightly been very concerned by social media’s inferring that the Government are not taking significant action. We all enjoy the seaside in Sussex and across the country. People are acting today as if they do not bear any blame themselves, but we are all contributing to this problem. Will the Department provide more clarity so that people understand that the situation is improving significantly?

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This was the first summer that Oxford West and Abingdon could enjoy the fact that the River Thames in Port Meadow had been granted bathing water status, but it is the second of only two such sites in the entire country. Will he consider a fund to help communities and councils to gain bathing water status for our rivers?

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We need to establish the real scale of the problem. It has been estimated that providing a full solution to storm overflow discharges will require the replacement of 100,000 miles of combined sewers, so the Government have it absolutely right with increasingly onerous targets for Ofwat backed by unlimited fines and £56 billion of infrastructure investment year after year. Does my right hon. Friend agree that to pretend we can call for an immediate ban does a huge disservice to the general public?

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I thank the Secretary of State for his answers. He has mentioned on three occasions the need for the devolved Administrations to play their part. Sewage impacts on all the seas around the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Taking into consideration the fact that 7 million tonnes of raw sewage are pumped into Northern Ireland’s seas and waters, and more than £1.5 billion of investment is needed to repair that situation, does the right hon. Member agree that there must be a holistic approach to tackling sewage pollution across the whole United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?

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There are two pollution warnings on our beautiful beaches of Southend West today, because of the use of storm overflows. I welcome all the work that the Government are doing and their plans to reduce the problem, but does my right hon. Friend agree that the payments of dividends and capital buy-backs must be directly linked to Anglian Water’s performance in preventing sewage discharges in my constituency?

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The discharge of sewage into waterways, including the beautiful chalk streams of South Cambridgeshire, is clearly completely unacceptable, which is why I welcome the package of measures the Secretary of State talked about earlier finally to tackle the problem. Enforcement is a lot more effective if we hit owners and senior executives where it hurts most: in their pockets. That is why I welcome the fact that, as the Secretary of State has mentioned, including in response to the previous question, Ofwat is consulting on linking dividend payments to environmental performance. Does he also agree that the Government should consider going further and banning water companies that are fined for illegally dumping pollution from paying any bonus to their senior management team or dividends to their owners for one year? When bankers break the law, they lose their bonuses. Should not the same happen to water company executives?