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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the release of sewage at beaches in south-east England by Southern Water on 2 and 3 October; and what steps they will take to reduce the incidence of such releases in future.

On 5 October 2021, a sewage discharge was made from Broadstairs Waste Water Treatment Works operated by Southern Water Services through the Short Sea Outfall to the sea at Joss Bay, Broadstairs. The Environment Agency investigation into the incident is ongoing.

The Environment Agency has been working closely with partners including Thanet District Council and Southern Water Services to mitigate the effects from the discharge. Thanet District Council, in consultation with the Environment Agency, issued advice against bathing at ten designated bathing waters and other non-designated bathing waters on the North Kent coast. Southern Water and Thanet District Council have undertaken daily inspections of the Thanet beaches since the spill, and advice against bathing has now been lifted on all bathing water beaches.

It is the responsibility of Southern Water Services to ensure that such releases do not occur and that in the event of any technical failure that they have resilient back up plans in place.

Improving water quality is a Government priority and we are clear that incidents of this kind are unacceptable. The Government is working across a range of measures to crack down on water pollution, including through implementing and enforcing regulation, working closely with Storm Overflows Taskforce - chaired by Defra - and a new package of commitments in the Environment Bill.

We have made it crystal clear to water companies that they must significantly reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows as a priority. The draft Strategic Policy Statement to Ofwat sets out our expectation that companies work to significantly reduce storm overflows for the first time and we expect funding to be approved for water companies to be able to do so. We have announced that we will put that instruction on a statutory footing with a new duty on water companies to progressively reduce impacts of sewage discharges.

The Government has also committed to publish a plan by September 2022 to address the harm caused by sewage discharges from storm overflows and reduce their impact on the environment.

The Environment Agency will work closely with Southern Water Services to both support and regulate their activity and to monitor improvement works to the waste water infrastructure around the North Kent coast. Failure to make improvements or comply with environmental permits in line with Environment Agency procedures may result in enforcement action.