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 impact of sewage overflows into rivers and waterways in Warwick and Leamington constituency on groups who use the water for recreational activities.

The Government is clear that the volume of sewage being discharged into our waters in unacceptable. That is why our Plan for Water sets out more investment, stronger regulation, and tougher enforcement to tackle pollution and clean up our water.

Alongside this, our Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan sets clear and specific targets for water companies to reduce sewage discharges, and will drive the largest infrastructure programme in water company history - £60 billion capital investment over 25 years

The rivers in the vicinity of Warwick and Leamington (River Avon and River Leam) are not designated Bathing Waters. Monitoring undertaken by the Environment Agency is primarily focussed on its statutory duties to monitor and report environmental quality.

We have increased the number of storm overflows monitored across the network: in 2010 only 7% were monitored, and now 100% are being monitored.

Nationally, the Environment Agency has directed water companies to make significant improvements through the PR19 Water Industry National Environment Plan and water company business plans, including upgrading over 8,000 storm overflows in successive price reviews since 1989. This has resulted in water companies investing £3.1 billion to improve storm overflows between 2020 and 2025.

Locally, Severn Trent Water, as part of their Green Recovery Programme, are carrying out a trial to improve a stretch of the River Leam near Warwick & Leamington Spa with the aim of making the river safer to swim in a location where bathing is known to occur.  This trial includes river monitoring and improvements to some of Severn Trent’s sewer network, infrastructure and discharges.