Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will introduce a statutory duty for water companies to display pollution alerts near bathing waters for at least 48 hours after a sewage discharge event.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We currently have no plans to introduce such a statutory duty. Local authorities are required to display signage providing the classification of all designated bathing waters. Throughout the bathing season, the Environment Agency will issue warnings of any forecasted pollution risk on its Swimfo website, covering over 170 sites. Signs are also put up at these swimming spots to inform bathers about a possible dip in quality as a result of factors like rainfall, wind and high tides. Members of the public can also access real time information on water quality using data on storm overflow spills direct from water companies using the Safer Seas app, a collaboration between Surfers Against Sewage and the Environment Agency.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on what dates water samples have been taken at (a) Seaham Beach and (b) Seaham Hall Beach for the Environment Agency Bathing Water Quality tests for the current bathing season.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) took water samples at Seaham Beach on the following dates of the current bathing season:
06/05/2021 |
18/05/2021 |
24/05/2021 |
01/06/2021 |
07/06/2021 |
16/06/2021 |
22/06/2021 |
01/07/2021 |
08/07/2021 |
15/07/2021 |
23/07/2021 |
29/07/2021 |
03/08/2021 |
08/08/2021 |
16/08/2021 |
The EA took water samples at Seaham Hall Beach on the following dates of the current bathing season:
06/05/2021 |
18/05/2021 |
24/05/2021 |
01/06/2021 |
07/06/2021 |
16/06/2021 |
22/06/2021 |
01/07/2021 |
08/07/2021 |
15/07/2021 |
23/07/2021 |
29/07/2021 |
03/08/2021 |
08/08/2021 |
16/08/2021 |
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will introduce a public awareness campaign targeting young people on water safety and drowning prevention.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency encourages safe and responsible recreation on inland and coastal water and is responsible for safety on waterside assets it owns, operates or occupies (such as locks, weirs and bridges). It has published advice on how to stay safe while visiting waterways: www.gov.uk/government/publications/staying-safe-around-water. The Environment Agency is also a member of the National Water Safety Forum.
Local councils often play an important role in ensuring that people stay safe around water in public spaces in their areas. The Local Government Association has published a water safety toolkit for councils: Water safety toolkit | Local Government Association.
Fire and rescue services have also been pivotal in raising public awareness in this area, through their work with landowners and partner organisations.
Water safety is a vital life skill, which is why it is a mandatory part of the curriculum for Physical Education at primary school. The Department for Education recognises that children have missed out on opportunities to learn to swim due to COVID-19 restrictions and is working closely with Swim England and other swimming and water safety organisations to support pupils returning safely to swimming and promoting water safety education.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to increase the number of blue flag award beaches on the North East coast of England.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Blue Flag is an international award of the Foundation for Environmental Education for beaches and marinas which meet a range of criteria. Blue Flag is independent of government and in England is administered by Keep Britain Tidy. There are four criteria for a Blue Flag:
In 2019, 72% of bathing waters in England were classified as ‘Excellent’ - the highest water quality standard. The Government has made clear that we will keep working to improve our environment and make sure it is protected for future generations. The 25 Year Environmental Plan sets out our commitment to continue to improve the cleanliness of our waters.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will bring forward proposals to prohibit water companies from paying shareholder dividends until the number of combined sewer overflows incidents are reduced and bathing waters in their locality meet blue flag water quality standards.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Between 2020 and 2025, water companies will invest £3.1 billion in storm overflow improvements to reduce sewage discharges to our waters. This includes £1.9bn investment on the Thames Tideway Tunnel super sewer, as well as £1.2bn of other investment throughout England. £144m of this is new, additional investment as a result of a call to action from the Storm Overflows Taskforce.
Reducing sewage discharges and tackling their harm is one of our top priorities and I recognise there is more to be done. On 8 June 2021 the Government tabled amendments to the Environment Bill to introduce measures on storm overflows.
Bathing water quality can be affected by a number of pollution sources, including wastewater and run-off from agriculture. One of the four criteria for a Blue Flag is that beach water quality must be classified as Excellent. In 2019, 72% of bathing waters in England were classified as ‘Excellent’.
Decisions on dividends for water company shareholders are made by water company boards. Company boards carry out these decisions within the framework of regulatory price controls, licence conditions and company law. Ofwat is responsible for economic regulation of the water companies. Among Ofwat’s statutory duties is a duty to ensure that companies carry out their functions and are able to finance them, and that water companies protect the interests of consumers. Where companies fail to meet their obligations, Ofwat has enforcement powers. To secure compliance and change behaviour they can obtain legally binding undertakings and impose enforcement orders. For the most serious contraventions they can impose financial penalties on companies.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will bring forward legislation to (a) end the private monopoly in water and (b) bring water into public ownership.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has no plans to bring water into public ownership.
Since privatisation, the private water sector model has unlocked more than £150 billion of investment. This is equivalent to around £5 billion annually in investment and has delivered a range of benefits to customers and the environment.
The Government considers that the private model, supported by strong economic regulation, generates investment, protects consumers, and provides a stable framework for companies and investors. Ofwat, the independent regulator, protects the interests of consumers by controlling prices, making sure water companies carry out their statutory functions and are financially resilient, as well as holding them to account on overall performance and the delivery of essential services.
Holding a monopoly licence to provide these services is a privilege and the Government and regulators have high expectations of the corporate and financial behaviours of owners and investors.
Fully supported by the Government, Ofwat introduced reforms to financial and corporate practices delivered through the 2019 price review, which require water companies to:
These reforms strengthen the private model and provide better outcomes for customers.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to end the private monopoly in water through introducing consumer choice.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government currently has no plans to introduce competition for household customers.
The Government considers that the private model, supported by a strong independent regulatory system, has generated investment and improved performance, by setting prices, protecting consumers and providing a stable framework for companies and investors.
The Government opened the water retail market for non-household customers in April 2017, giving businesses, charities and public sector organisations choice over their water retailer. The market is still in its infancy. We therefore do not believe that this is the right time to introduce a competitive market for households.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people have been employed by the Environment Agency to cover the North East of England, in each of the last five years.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The table below provides the Environment Agency staff numbers in the North East Area for the end of the last five years. The headcount is the total number of people employed, not all of whom work full-time. The Full Time Equivalent is the number of full-time posts that the headcount equates to.
Year end | Full Time Equivalent | Headcount |
2021 | 294.82 | 307 |
2020 | 308.6 | 325 |
2019 | 290.38 | 308 |
2018 | 288.14 | 307 |
2017 | 289.7 | 310 |
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the European Environment Agency's assessment entitled State of bathing water 2020, what assessment he has made of the reasons for which UK bathing water quality regularly lags behind that of other European countries.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Bathing water quality for the UK was reported to Europe for the last time in 2020 even though no classification was produced in England and Scotland due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 European Environment Agency (EEA) league table ranked the UK last because this missed all of the normally ‘Excellent’ English and Scottish bathing waters that were not classified.
The most recent classification, from 2019, showed that in England 98% of bathing waters met at least the minimum standard of the Bathing Water Directive and the percentage of ‘Good’ and ‘Excellent’ bathing waters was 93%, with 72% in the highest ‘Excellent’ category.
The UK’s ranking is usually better, but it traditionally still appears in the lower rankings of the league table for a number of reasons. The EEA figures ranking countries by compliance against Directive standards takes no account of the geographical challenge faced by northern European countries versus those in the south.
Bathing waters in southern Europe benefit from the natural disinfection effect of bright sunlight and infrequent runoff from rainfall, so the task of ensuring compliance is much easier for some countries than for the UK with a northerly latitude, frequent rainfall and a high population density.
The EEA ranking of countries also doesn’t take account of the different standards applicable to fresh and coastal waters. Coastal bathing waters are subject to standards that are twice as stringent as those for freshwater bathing waters. As an island nation, nearly all of our bathing waters are on the coast and subject to the more stringent standards. This is in contrast to many countries in mainland Europe who have many more freshwater bathing waters; subsequently, this has an effect on the UK’s ranking versus other countries’.
If English bathing waters are compared to other equivalent northern European coastal bathing waters, our position is broadly comparable, despite the arguably larger challenges from high population density, high rainfall totals and often turbid waters. That being said, this Government is committed to delivering clean and plentiful water, as set out in the 25 Year Environment Plan, and will shortly be setting ambitious targets for water quality under the Environment Bill framework to drive further action in this area.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to end sewage discharges into bathing waters by 2030.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Over £2.5 billion has been invested by English water companies to improve bathing water quality since privatisation. In the early 1990s, just 28 per cent of bathing waters met the highest standards in force at that time. By 2019 this had gone up to 98.3% of bathing waters in England passing the minimum standard. Of these, 72% of bathing waters were classified as 'Excellent' - the highest water quality standard.
Tackling sewage discharges into all our waters, including bathing waters is one of my priorities. I set up the Storm Overflows Taskforce, which brings together Government, the water industry, regulators and environmental NGOs. This Taskforce has now agreed to a long-term goal to eliminate harm from storm overflows.
Between 2020 and 2025, water companies will invest £3.1 billion in storm overflow improvements. This includes £1.9 billion investment on the Thames Tideway Tunnel super sewer, as well as £1.2 billion of other investment throughout England. £143 million of this is new, additional investment as a result of a call to action from the Storm Overflows Taskforce.
I recognise there is more to be done. On 8 June 2021 the Government tabled amendments to the Environment Bill to introduce measures on storm overflows. These measures complement the ongoing work of the Storm Overflows Taskforce by implementing a statutory requirement for the Government to produce a plan to reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows by September 2022 and to report progress to Parliament on implementing that plan.
We are also introducing duties requiring water companies and the Environment Agency to publish data on storm overflow operations on an annual basis. These legally-binding obligations on water companies and government will help to reduce pollution in rivers - protecting wildlife and public health.
Water companies are for the first time currently producing comprehensive Drainage and Sewerage Management Plans to assess the capacity of their wastewater networks. We are also taking steps through the Environment Bill to require water companies to produce such Plans on a statutory basis. These plans will be another tool to help address the risks that storm overflows pose to the environment.