Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether Natural England plan to resume work on the consideration of the Cheshire Sandstone Ridge for designation as a National Landscape and the boundary extension review of the Chilterns National Landscape.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is aware that Natural England, in light of pressure on its budgets, has taken the hard decision to stop work on the Chilterns boundary review and consideration of the Cheshire Sandstone Ridge for designation as a National Landscape. It had yet to reach the stage of sharing proposed ‘candidate areas’ publicly and as a result of having to stop the project there is no longer a planned timeline for the public consultation. Natural England is in contact with the affected partners to work through the implications of this decision over the coming weeks. We continue to recognise the value landscape designations bring to people and nature and remain committed to maximising that value over the long term.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of Ofwat in ensuring that England and Wales have appropriate infrastructure for water and sewerage services.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ofwat independently scrutinises water company plans as part of the price review process to ensure companies meet their statutory obligations and ensure value for money for consumers.
Ofwat published its final determinations for Price Review 2024 (PR24) on 19 December, which sets company expenditure and customer bills for 2025-2030. This will deliver substantial and enduring improvements for customers and the environment through a £104 billion upgrade for the water sector. This investment will contribute to delivery of key elements of the Government’s Plan for Change and Mission Objectives for this Parliament.
We have also overseen the launch of an Independent Commission into the water sector and its regulation, in what is expected to form the largest review of the industry since privatisation. The Independent Commission will review infrastructure resilience including enforcement of existing infrastructure requirements, infrastructure resilience standards and the setting of base expenditure allowances within the price review process.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 28 October (HL1706), on what dates the three separate incidents self-reported by United Utilities (UU) mentioned in the question arose; and what assessment they have made of reporting by the BBC that UU failed to report non-compliant sewage discharges into Lake Windermere between January 2021 and September 2023.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency received three self-reported pollution incidents from United Utilities relating to operations at Glebe Road Pumping Station, Windermere. These were reported on 26 January, 29 February and 21 May 2024.
The Environment Agency has launched an investigation into the sewage discharges at this Pumping Station and is examining further evidence received from the company. If United Utilities is found to be in breach of an environmental permit, the Environment Agency will take the appropriate enforcement action up to and including a criminal prosecution.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the accounts that United Utilities failed to report sewage discharges into Lake Windermere between 2021 and 2023.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) is carrying out an investigation into United Utilities’ (UU) discharges into Lake Windermere.
The investigation concerns three separate incidents that were self-reported by UU. One of these incidents was a retrospective report of pollution.
Where a breach of a UU permit has occurred, the EA will take the appropriate enforcement action in accordance with its enforcement and sanctions policy.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to review the (1) performance, (2) remit, and (3) powers, of Ofwat.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Companies are being held to strict requirements by the regulators, demanding significantly higher spend on environmental enhancement than in the previous price review.
On 11 July, the Secretary of State met with water company bosses to set out our expectations for the sector, just six days after my Cabinet appointment. Alongside this, this Government announced a series of initial steps towards ending the crisis in the water sector.
The Water (Special Measures) Bill will give Ofwat further powers to hold water companies to account where they do not deliver for customers and the environment.
This Bill is just the start of the fundamental and much broader transformation that this Government will lead for the water industry.
The Government will launch a review to shape further legislation that will fundamentally transform how our water system works and clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the scale of damage to public footpaths and bridleways caused by four-wheel drive vehicles and scrambler bikes.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
The recreational use of motor vehicles on footpaths, bridleways and restricted byways is not permitted, therefore no such assessment has been undertaken. Any damage caused by illegal activity is a matter for the appropriate authorities.
The Government is aware of damage and disturbance caused by excessive use of off-road motor vehicles on highways where such activities are legal, such as byways open to all traffic and on other unsealed roads which carry motor vehicle rights, often referred to as ‘green lanes’. This issue was included in the consultation on the recent Landscapes Review. The results of the consultation concluded that the current Traffic Regulation Order process is legally robust enough to protect green lanes with targeted local action in sensitive areas, while allowing vehicle users to responsibly enjoy the countryside.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the evidence presented in the BBC Panorama programme, The Water Pollution Cover-Up, broadcast in December 2023, on sewage pollution in rivers.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller
Due to the seriousness of the incident at Cunsey Beck, Windermere and the fact that a definitive pollution source had not been identified, the Environment Agency (EA) asked the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) to review their response to the incident.
The EA recognise things should have been done better, that is why improvements have been made to water quality monitoring in the area, including installing sensors that monitor river quality in real time. Learning has been shared within the Environment Agency to inform future responses.
Under operator self-monitoring, introduced in 2009, water and sewerage companies are responsible for collecting and analysing samples of their discharges to the environment. They have a legal duty to report any breach of their permits. A failure to self-report will be taken into consideration when enforcement options are being considered.
The EA assesses and records every incident report it receives – between 70,000 and 100,000 a year. They attend those incidents where there is a significant risk, with a target to attend all Category 1 and 2 serious pollution incidents.
Water companies cannot downgrade an incident category. When a pollution event occurs, the initial incident categorisation is set by the Environment Agency based on the initial information, often based on a ‘worst case scenario’. The incident is given a final categorisation by the EA once the case has been fully investigated.
In June 2023, the EA launched its Water Industry Transformation Programme, outlining that it would be transforming the way it regulates the sector, embedding a new approach that targets resource and interventions to uncover non-compliance and drive better performance from the water industry. This includes looking at how incidents are investigated and how they are categorised.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the performance of Ofwat as an effective regulator.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
The Environment Act 2021 gave Ofwat new powers to strengthen existing licence conditions so that it can take enforcement action against water companies that do not make an explicit link between dividend payments and their performance for customers and the environment.
In May, Ofwat received an £11.3m funding budget increase from HM Treasury to treble its enforcement capacity. This additional funding, alongside commitments in our Plan for Water to bolster tougher enforcement action, will further increase Ofwat’s capacity to hold water companies to account and protect our waters.
Where companies fail to meet their obligations, regulators have not hesitated to act. Ofwat’s annual performance assessment process, and the automatic penalties that apply to companies who underperform, represents an excellent example of strong economic and environmental regulation. In November 2022, Ofwat announced financial penalties of £132 million applying to 11 water companies, in response to underperformance in areas such as water supply interruptions, pollution incidents and internal sewer flooding. Money from Ofwat’s penalties will rightly be returned to customers through water bills over the 2023-24 billing period.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the then Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 27 May (5327), what plans they have to legislate to repeal the cut-off date for the recording of historic rights of way.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
Repealing the cut-off date will require primary legislation. As soon as an appropriate legislative vehicle has been identified we will use this to repeal the cut-off date.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps, if any, they intend to take to ensure that water infrastructure has the capacity to withstand periods of drought without requiring hosepipe bans.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
Despite the dry summer, water companies in England have assured us that essential water supplies remain resilient across the country. It is their duty to maintain those supplies. Defra ministers expect water company action in accordance with their pre-agreed drought plans. Water companies have taken action to mitigate the effects of this prolonged dry weather using the range of tools available to them, including Temporary Use Bans (aka 'hosepipe bans ').
The Government recognises the need to improve the resilience of our water supplies. The National Framework for Water Resources, published in March 2020, sets out the strategic water needs for England to 2050 and beyond. The Framework sets out how we will reduce demand, halve leakage rates, develop new water supply infrastructure, move water to where itis needed, increase drought resilience of water supplies, and reduce the need for drought measures.
The National Framework takes forward the recommendation from the National Infrastructure Commission on improved drought resilience of public water supplies. The Government is requiring water companies to plan to deliver resilience to a one in 500-year drought, that is not needing to resort to emergency measures, such as stand pipes and rota cuts.
Water companies are using the £469 million made available by Ofwat in the current Price Review period (2019-2024) to progress the infrastructure required to improve the resilience of water supplies. In the Autumn 2022, water companies will publish their statutory draft Water Resources Management Plans for consultation, which set out how they will secure water supplies in the long term.