Water and Sewerage Companies: Statutory Consultees
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Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper and refer to my interest as an officer of the All-Party Water Group.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (Baroness Taylor of Stevenage) (Lab)
My Lords, water companies must by law provide new water and sewerage connections to housing through drainage and wastewater management plans. As relevant statutory undertakers in the nationally significant infrastructure project regime, they must be consulted on relevant applications for development consent. The Government’s forthcoming guidance will promote early engagement with them. The Government have paused creating new statutory consultees in the Town and Country Planning Act regime. As part of a wider review, a consultation on streamlining this system is under way, with decisions to follow.
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
My Lords, I am grateful for that Answer. It begs the question how the Government plan to build major housing developments of 300,000 a year, many of them on flood plains with no sustainable drains, with the additional demands of the new data centres and mindful of the Environment Agency’s national framework for water resources, giving the acute warning of a deficit of water of 5 billion litres by 2050. Do the Government agree that we need to end the automatic right to connect, so that where water companies say there is simply no capacity, the development will not go ahead?
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
I thank the noble Baroness for her constant interest in this subject through many of the pieces of legislation that she and I have debated across the Chamber. There is no automatic right to connect to a sewerage system. Section 106 of the Water Industry Act allows a sewerage undertaker to refuse a proposed connection to its public sewer system, which is otherwise a statutory right. Refusal is possible—and would be subject to an appeal to Ofwat—only when the mode of construction or condition of the sewer does not satisfy the undertaker’s reasonable standards, or where the connection would otherwise prejudice the system. I appreciate her great interest in sustainable drainage systems. As she knows, we are pursuing that for new developments with our colleagues in Defra.
Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville (LD)
My Lords, we desperately need new housing, but avoiding flooding is also essential. Internal drainage board levies make up a significant proportion of the budgets of some local authorities, which often have to cut off other services to fund the IDB levy. The IDB’s work ensures that communities are safe, so that essential housebuilding can go ahead. Pumping stations are run on electricity, the cost of which has risen exponentially since the introduction of Ofgem’s targeted charging review. The Government announced £5 million for councils this year. That is short term, so what is the Government’s long-term solution to this pressing problem?
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
I have been greatly involved in the issues around internal drainage boards and the constant tensions in their financing over the years. Internal drainage boards are not statutory consultees, but they work proactively with local authorities, which are represented on their management boards and can comment on proposals within the statutory consultation period. Where an internal drainage board raises issues that are material to the determination of an application in question, local authorities must take these into account. We are working at pace to deliver the renewable electricity and other energy we all need, to help reduce costs for householders and businesses alike.
The Duke of Wellington (CB)
My Lords, the Minister, in her reply to the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh, mentioned Ofwat. The Independent Water Commission, which reported in July, recommended the abolition of Ofwat and the institution of a new regulator. I realise that this falls under a different department, but would the Minister be prepared to accelerate the start of the new regulatory regime? It seems to be in everyone’s interest that this should happen sooner rather than later.
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
We were very grateful for the work of the Independent Water Commission. As the noble Duke says, it is not my department that is working through the procedures needed to reply to the recommendations. The Government are considering the recommendations on whether water companies should be statutory consultees or subject to a requirement to notify. A water White Paper will be published before the end of this year, and I am sure that it will contain many of the issues that were the subject of those recommendations. People will be able to comment on the water White Paper in due course.
Baroness Buscombe (Con)
My Lords, is the Minister aware of how many pumping stations are either completely inoperable or malfunctioning?
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
That too is probably a question for my Defra colleagues to answer, but I will come back to the noble Baroness with a written response.
Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (GP)
My Lords, we are seeing more erratic weather patterns and some increasingly severe floods. Is the plan for sustainable drainage systems speeding up? Will we see that in the water White Paper?
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
The recent issues in Monmouthshire—we are terribly sorry for the people there; they have had a dreadful time over the past few days—make us even more determined to support the delivery of high-quality sustainable drainage systems to help us manage flood risk and adapt to the effects of climate change. National planning policy therefore makes it very clear that developments of all sizes are expected to make use of sustainable drainage techniques where the development could have drainage impacts. I have seen some fantastic examples of that when visiting housing sites around the country. Not only can it be done, but in a way that enhances the environment for local residents. We are considering what further changes need to be made to planning policy.
Lord Spellar (Lab)
My Lords, in looking at the system of regulation, can we consider that Ofwat’s failures are not in isolation? Many regulatory authorities in this country are showing similar failings, although sometimes in slightly different manifestations. Do we not need not only individual changes, but to look at the whole regulatory system—not just to change legislation but to change the whole culture of these bodies?
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
Of course our regulatory system is important in helping and supporting the management of the development of the number of new homes we want to deliver. But we have taken a step back to look at the statutory consultees within the planning system—the moratorium was announced by the Chancellor in January—so that we can take account of some of the feedback we have had that the statutory consultee system is not working as well as it should. The Statement confirmed to the House a number of steps that the Government have taken to improve those statutory consultee arrangements—and that includes some of the regulators—including limiting the scope of those consultees to apply only where advice is strictly necessary.
Lord Jamieson (Con)
My Lords, does the Minister agree that water and sewerage companies and undertakings should fully engage with local plans and spatial development strategies as statutory consultees, so that these issues can be addressed up front at the strategic level rather than having to do it on a site-by-site basis? That would speed up the planning process and deliver better outcomes.
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
I agree with the noble Lord that early engagement with the local planning authority, the Environment Agency and the relevant water and sewerage companies, as appropriate, can help establish whether there will be water and wastewater issues that need to be considered. We expect water and sewerage companies to take a strategic approach to planning their water services, accounting for growth and the needs of the environment. There must also be strong collaboration between local authorities and water companies, so that local plans, water resources management plans, and drainage and wastewater plans align.
Baroness Fookes (Con)
Is it correct that the Government’s housebuilding target can be reached only if flood plains are used for building—and is that not a practice to be deprecated?
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)
The National Planning Policy Framework is very clear that housing and most other types of development should not be permitted in functional flood plains—that is, in flood zone 3b—where water must flow or be stored during floods. Where development is necessary in such areas, it should be made safe for its lifetime without increasing flood risk elsewhere, so there must be no displacement of the risk. In 2023-24, 96% of all planning decisions complied with the Environment Agency advice on flood risk. In the same year, 99% of residential development proposals also complied with that advice.