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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what penalties exist for owners of private sewage systems which leak into (a) soil and (b) watercourses.

In cases where private sewerage systems cause pollution of either soil or watercourses the operator of that system may be committing an offence under the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016 and, as such, may be subject to the potential penalties set out in those Regulations. When determining what compliance or enforcement action is appropriate in any given case the Environment Agency uses its enforcement and sanctions policy. Penalties may also arise under legislation for which local authorities are responsible, including the Public Health Act 1936 and the Building Act 1984.