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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to help prevent further discharges of raw sewage into (a) the River Yare and (b) other waters near Great Yarmouth.

This is the first Government to take such significant steps to tackle sewage overflows, including those near Great Yarmouth. We have been repeatedly clear to water companies that they must tackle sewage overflows urgently, and the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan will deliver the largest infrastructure investment in water company history to clean up our rivers. Under the Environment Act we have improved monitoring and the transparency of data related to sewage overflows. Event Duration Monitors will be fully rolled out by 2023. This will help monitor local sewage impacts and hold water companies to account to deliver rapid improvements.

On a local level, so far in 2022 the Environment Agency has brought 8 prosecutions against Anglian Water, with over £1.75 million in fines issued. On 30^th November we released this year's bathing water classifications. I’m pleased that the beaches in Great Yarmouth and the surrounding area were all classified as 'Excellent' for their water quality in 2022.