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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the extent to which recent increases in the price of emptying septic tanks have been caused by reduced competition in the market for processing.

Defra and the Environment Agency have worked with South West Water through the Cornwall operators group to increase capacity and flexibility for the acceptance of tankered waste.

Tanker waste companies in Cornwall must use the local water company sites for legitimate discharge/disposal of tankered septic waste at least until providers can offer other legitimate routes for disposal. Water company rates are higher than previous non-compliant land spreading sites, but the prices charged should reflect the cost of legitimate disposal.