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Written Question
Water Companies: Environment Protection
Tuesday 3rd August 2021

Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with the Environment Agency following the publication of its report Water and sewerage companies in England: environmental performance report for 2020 on 13 July, in particular regarding its decision to grant the highest environmental performance rating to five water companies, despite the overall failure of the industry to reduce by 50 per cent the number of incidents in which significant amounts of raw sewage are released into the environment compared to 2012.

Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

The assessment of environmental performance of water and sewerage companies in England is a made by the Environment Agency as the environmental regulator using a methodology that is published and has been consulted on with Defra and other organisations including eNGOs.

The environmental performance of a water company and the rating achieved is based on their performance against six metrics: total pollution incidents, serious pollution incidents, self-reporting of pollution incidents, discharge permit compliance, delivery of their environmental programme and their security of supply index for water resource. It is not based on the performance against any one metric such as serious pollution incidents.

Although the sector did not achieve an overall 50% reduction in serious pollution incidents compared to the number in 2012, the number of serious pollution incidents declined for the second year in a row and were at the lowest number ever at 44 in 2020. Three of the five water companies with the highest performance rating in 2020 (Northumbrian Water, Severn Trent and United Utilities) achieved more than a 50% reduction over the 2012 to 2020 period. However, the sector as a whole needs to accelerate to zero serious incidents and ramp up work to support the Government’s goal to ensure clean and plentiful water, as the report highlights.

There is more work to be done and over the last year the EA has made sure all companies develop and publish a pollution incident reduction plan for them to better understand their risks and implement interventions to reduce incident numbers. The EA has also worked with Ofwat to better align the financial penalties that they impose with environmental performance metrics. The EA will continue to use its influence and regulatory powers to require water companies to make timely, necessary and achievable improvements.


Written Question
Water Companies: Standards
Thursday 29th July 2021

Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the statement by David Black, acting Chair of Ofwat, on 13 July that there should be a "step-change in culture and commitment" by water companies "to fundamentally change the way they deliver for customers and the environment".

Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

The recent Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) report, to which David Black’s comments relate, spans the last 12 months and makes for extremely disappointing reading. Even the industry-leading water companies have more work to do, especially on the use of storm overflows. Water companies have environmental responsibilities and they must realise them. They have a legal duty to avoid pollution to our rivers and other waterways.

The Government, the Environment Agency and Ofwat announced on 22 July the consultation of the review of the Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP), an ambitious programme of work that water companies are required to complete to meet their obligations from environmental legislation and UK Government policy. Water company actions driven by this programme have the potential to greatly enhance the natural environment, ultimately helping to protect the health of rivers and waterways in England and support sustainable growth.

For 2020 to 2025 water companies are investing £7.1 billion to protect and improve the environment. This includes the £5.2 billion invested through WINEP.

The strategic policy statement (SPS) for Ofwat published for consultation on July 22 outlines the Government’s key priorities for Ofwat’s regulation of the water sector in England. This includes water companies’ day-to-day environmental performance, with a focus on meeting the Government’s ambitions to significantly reduce the frequency and volume of sewage discharges from storm overflows. As well as challenging water companies to plan strategically their drainage and wastewater services in order to improve resilience and reduce pollution incidents, the Government expects Ofwat to challenge companies to continue to drive down leakage and improve water efficiency for the benefit of current and future customers.

The Environment Bill will also address this step change, with three new measures to reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows:

The first statutory requirement will place a duty on Government to publish a plan by September 2022 to reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows and to reduce their impact. This plan will be informed by work of the Storm Overflows Taskforce and will be subject to consultation and informed by an impact assessment. The Government will consider a wide range of options, including measures proposed in the Rt Hon Philip Dunne MP’s Private Member’s Bill. The plan will complement existing Asset Management Plans and new statutory Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans produced by water companies.

There will be an additional statutory requirement for Government to report to Parliament on progress on implementing the plan every five years, which will align progress with existing Asset Management Plan cycles for maximum effectiveness.

The third requirement will be a duty on water companies and the Environment Agency to publish data on storm overflow operation on an annual basis so that it is available and accessible to the public.

The Environment Bill will also require a legally binding, long-term water quality target. We are currently considering water targets on reducing pollution from wastewater, as well as agriculture and abandoned metal mines. Setting targets will provide a strong mechanism to deliver long-term environmental outcomes.


Written Question
Water Companies: Pollution
Wednesday 28th July 2021

Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to end the practice of water companies being permitted to self-report pollution incidents.

Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

It is a requirement on water companies to self-report pollution incidents and there are no plans to remove this important requirement.

Pollution incidents occur as a result of a system failure and require a reactive response. The quicker the response, the better the outcome for the environment. If the self-reporting of pollution incidents was not required, the Environment Agency would be reliant on third parties to report when things have gone wrong. Water companies can inform the Environment Agency of problems much quicker than if reported by third parties.

High levels of self-reporting demonstrates honesty and transparency and is an indicator that companies are managing their systems effectively. Making this information available and reporting it in the Environment Agency's annual water company performance report shines a light on company performance. Removing this requirement would reduce transparency, be worse for the environment and would reduce the Environment Agency's ability to hold water companies to account.


Written Question
Southern Water
Wednesday 28th July 2021

Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the £90m fine imposed on Southern Water by the Environment Agency for dumping raw sewage into protected seas; and what plans they have to direct the Environment Agency to hold Southern Water to stricter standards in future.

Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

On 9 July 2021, Southern was handed a record £90 million fine after pleading guilty to thousands of illegal discharges of sewage which polluted rivers and coastal waters in Kent, Hampshire and Sussex. The Environment Agency led the successful prosecution, which is the largest criminal investigation in its 25-year history.

The findings in this case were shocking and wholly unacceptable. The Government has made clear that water companies have environmental responsibilities and must realise them. They have a legal duty to avoid pollution to our rivers and other waterways. Water companies should not be letting this happen and those that do will be punished by the full force of the law.

This fine, the largest ever imposed on a water company, is absolutely appropriate and welcomed. It will rightly be paid solely from the company's operating profits, rather than customer bills.

The Government works closely with the regulators including the Environment Agency and Ofwat to support their work to monitor Southern Water's performance and to hold them to account to deliver improvements for their customers and the environment. For example, the strategic policy statement (SPS) for Ofwat published on 22nd July for consultation outlines Government's key priorities for the independent regulator. This includes continuing to work on water companies' day-to-day environmental performance, with a focus on meeting the Government's ambitions to reduce significantly the frequency and volume of sewage discharges from storm overflows. As well as this, the statement asks Ofwat to challenge water companies to strategically plan their drainage and wastewater services in order to improve resilience and reduce pollution incidents. Ofwat will also work with companies to drive down leakage and improve water efficiency for the benefit of current and future customers.

Although it has improved on last year's Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) 1-star rating, Southern Water remains one of the worst performing companies. Southern Water has a package of undertakings to deliver following enforcement action. The package includes steps to improve investment and performance at its wastewater treatment works and to increase transparency for customers about its environmental performance.

Minister Pow met with Southern Water's management team earlier this year to discuss their environmental performance. Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency, also met with Southern Water's Chair, and the Secretary of State will be meeting with them to discuss their 2020 EPA results.

The Environment Agency regularly reviews the EPA metrics and targets to hold water companies to strict standards. They are working on introducing new metrics for water resources, storm overflows and sludge in the future.

The Government will continue to work closely with the Environment Agency and Ofwat as they regulate robustly to drive improvements in the sector.


Written Question
Agriculture
Monday 25th April 2016

Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the concerns expressed by the National Farmers Union and the Country Land and Business Association regarding the prospective loss of funding and access to markets to British agriculture in the event of the UK leaving the EU; and whether they have planned any measures in such an event.

Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble

At the February European Council, the Government negotiated a new settlement, giving the United Kingdom a special status in a reformed European Union. The Government's position is that the UK will be stronger, safer and better off remaining in a reformed EU.