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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many times each water company breached their storm overflow permits in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.

National Compliance Assessment Database (NCAD) data for breaches of storm overflow permits in 2020/21/22:

• The data includes breaches for all permits with a storm overflow condition: network storm overflows; sewage pumping station; sewage treatment works storm overflows; and sewage treatment works storm tank discharges.
• All breaches refers to all permit conditions recorded under the assessed activities in bullet point 1, including breaches for general management, telemetry, nature of discharge, access to sample point etc.
• Overflow Conditions only includes breaches or potential breaches in relation to unauthorised discharges linked to rainfall conditions, i.e. discharges which may have occurred not due to rainfall or snowmelt.
• The 2020 numbers are higher because trial data analysis carried out by the Environment Agency last year identified more breaches.

• We will not let companies get away with illegal activity and where breaches are found, we will not hesitate to hold companies to account. Since 2015, the Environment Agency have concluded 58 prosecutions against water and sewerage companies securing fines of over £142m. We recently announced water companies will face higher penalties that are quicker and easier to enforce.