A lot has been said in the media and on social media in recent days about the Environment Bill, particularly Lords Amendment 45 relating to sewage. I wanted to clarify some points as there are many misleading claims which misstate my position.
You may know I have previously supported Philip Dunne MP’s Sewage (Inland Waters) Bill that formed the basis for the Lords’ amendment as I know how important our many rivers are to Thirsk and Malton residents, for the health of people who use our rivers for recreation and well-being, and as vital habitats for wildlife. I have been working with Yorkshire Water since then to improve the quality of our much-loved rivers. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, the Bill ran out of time, but in March the Government confirmed that it will legislate to bring in three measures at the heart of the Bill.
Moreover, the Government actually adopted most of Amendment 45’s functions into the Environment Bill already, including an entire new chapter to the Water Industry Act 1991 on storm overflows. This places a statutory requirement on the Government to produce a plan to reduce discharges from storm overflows and their adverse impacts before 1 September 2022 and commits the Government to taking action and reporting on progress to Parliament.
The Bill also introduces a statutory requirement on sewerage companies to produce drainage and sewerage management plans as well as to report real time information on an overflow, including its location and when it ceases. Additionally, the Bill mandates water companies to monitor the water quality upstream and downstream of storm overflows and sewage works.
Section 141A of the amendment would have sought to place a new duty on sewerage undertakers in England and Wales to demonstrate progressive reductions in the harm caused by discharges of untreated sewage. This is something I support, however, the amendment came with no plan as to how this can be delivered and no impact assessment.
As it stands, to eliminate the need for storm overflows completely billions of pounds of investment would be needed in our Victorian sewage system. The Government estimates the amount needed would have been between £150bn and £650bn. £150bn is more than the entire schools, policing and defence budgets put together, and £650 billion is well above what has been spent combatting the Coronavirus pandemic. This would have inevitably meant significant increases in consumer bills or the cost falling back on the taxpayer as water companies may well have to put their businesses into administration.
The amendment as drafted was impractical but I am working with fellow MPs and the Government so make sure that we will see fewer discharges of untreated sewage into rivers, lakes and seas and I know Ministers share my ambition to see this happen. I will continue to make this case in Parliament.
