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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the responsibility of local authorities to work with water companies to tackle polluted surface water outfalls that occur as a result of mis-connections to sewers rather than surface water runoffs.

The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a wide range of issues. Misconnections are often the product of poor domestic drainage from private drainage asset owners. However, the contents discharge from water company assets and water companies have a responsibility to investigate and resolve. Water company drainage and wastewater management plans provide the opportunity for companies to proactively identify these risks and propose long-term solutions to address them.