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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency on sewage discharge and the accountability of water companies.

I have regular discussions with the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency and tackling sewage discharges is one of my key priorities. HM Government is taking steps to prioritise water company action on sewage overflows. We have launched the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan, that introduced strict targets on sewage pollution requiring water companies to deliver their largest ever environment infrastructure investment - £56 billion capital investment over 25 years. Our Plan will eliminate ecological harm from all sewage discharges and it will protect the ecology of our rivers and seas, and the public health of our water users for generations to come.

The Environment Agency and Ofwat have recently launched the largest criminal and civil investigations into water company sewage discharges ever, at over 2200 treatment works, following new data coming to light as a result of increased monitoring.  Since 2015, the Environment Agency has brought 54 prosecutions against water companies, securing fines of almost £140 million. We have also recently announced that we will bring forward plans to increase the amount the Environment Agency can directly fine water companies who pollute the environment by 1000-fold, from £250,000 up to £250million.