Thank you for your email regarding sewage.
Sewage overflows are a Victorian infrastructure issue and this is the first Government to take steps to tackle them. In 2016 only 5% of these sites were monitored, today it’s 90%. Thirty years ago, only 30% of our sewage was treated with 70% released. Now we are seeing 95% treated with only 5% released. So, while our seas are actually cleaner, we are a lot more aware of the pollution which blights them. As someone who regularly swims on Gosport’s beaches, I am keen to see this issue improved.
It is simply not true to say that this government has not acted. This is the first Government to take steps to address storm overflows. 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.
Water companies will have to achieve a number of strict targets. These targets will mean measures such as increasing the capacity of their networks and treating sewage before it is discharged to protect public health and prevent pollution, while massively reducing all discharges. Ministers are also lifting the Environment Agency’s maximum civil fine for each individual breach of the rules. 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.
By 2035, water companies will have to improve all storm overflows discharging into or near every designated bathing water and improve 75 per cent of overflows discharging to high priority nature sites. Ministers will review the plan in 2027 to consider where we can go further, taking account of innovation and efficiencies.
Finally, the plan sets out that water companies will be required to publish discharge information in near real time as well as committing to tackling the root causes of the issue by improving surface water drainage. The plan also sets out Ministers’ wider expectations for the water industry, to ensure their infrastructure keeps pace with increasing external pressures, such as urban growth and climate change and to ensure our water supplies remain clean and secure for the future.
It is also worth noting that at the end of November last year, Southern Water released analysis which showed that 13 sites in Hampshire were rated ‘Excellent’ and one site ‘Sufficient’- all of the Gosport sites were rated ‘Excellent’.
The Conservative Party voted for a motion which commits to cleaning up our waters. You can read more about the government’s ‘Plan for Water’ here, which includes more investment in fixing overflows, setting up a water restoration fund (paid for by fining polluting water companies) to clean up illegal discharges, and introducing unlimited fines on polluting companies. I have made a video, which you can watch here, that goes over some of the measures in the Plan for Water.
I can assure you that I am in regular contact with Southern Water, and continue to lobby ministers for improvements to reduce and prevent future discharges. I also spoke in a Parliamentary debate urging the government to pursue more ambitious targets, and to test water quality year round. You can watch this here.