Water Supply: Infrastructure

(asked on 14th December 2023) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the implications of the Stannington gas flood in Sheffield Hallam constituency for his policies on the level of investment in maintaining and upgrading water infrastructure.


Answered by
Robbie Moore Portrait
Robbie Moore
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 22nd January 2024

As set in the Plan for Water, the Government recognises the need for additional investment in water infrastructure. Ofwat set out a £51 billion five-year investment package in its 2019 Price Review, including requirements for water companies to cut leaks by 16% and reduce mains bursts by 12% between 2020 and 2025. We have also set a statutory water demand target, where leakage will need to reduce by 37% by 2038, this is part of the trajectory to achieving a 50% reduction by 2050. Ofwat will hold water companies to account for delivering leakage reduction targets, with financial penalties if they fail to meet them.

In the specific case of the Stannington gas flood, a high-pressure water main rupture led to water ingress into the gas distribution network, impacting around 35 properties. Yorkshire Water responded by replacing the water main away from the gas network and providing a £60 goodwill initial automatic payment to affected customers and compensating for any property and appliance damage.

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