Thank you for your correspondence regarding sewage and the recently debated Environment Bill.
First and foremost, as a Conservative Environment Network member and a keen conservationist who regularly promotes methods such as regenerative agriculture, I would like to reassure you that I would never support a bill that harms our waterways, coastline or rivers.
The Environment Bill is a landmark piece of legislation which, when passed into law, will ensure that more emphasis and work is placed on improving our landscapes, our environment and protecting biodiversity, as well as updating and modernising the infrastructure that we currently depend upon. The Government has been working on the Environment Bill for quite some time and has moved considerably to incorporate new aspects that will help reduce storm overflows.
In relation to overflows and sewage it is important to note the Bill that was voted on last week contained the following provisions:
- A new duty on water companies and the Environment Agency to publish data on storm overflow operation on an annual basis.
- A new duty on water companies to publish near real time information (within 1 hour) of the commencement of an overflow, its location and when it ceases.
- A new duty on water companies to continuously monitor the water quality upstream and downstream of a storm overflow and of sewage disposal works.
- A new duty on water companies to produce comprehensive statutory Drainage and Sewerage Management Plans setting out how the company will manage and develop its networks, and how storm overflows will be addressed through these plans.
The vote last week on the Lord’s Amendment was contentious, because while on the face of it, it employed the sensible concept of the polluter paying, it also had serious ramifications that could have seen huge costs passed on to the British public. Estimates range between £150 billion and £650 billion.
Passing such an amendment without the proper plan and due diligence in place, would have been catastrophic. However, it is important to note that the Bill continues to be amended, and in response to last week’s vote, we have successfully enhanced the Bill to include a new amendment, that will see a duty enshrined in law to ensure water companies secure a progressive reduction in discharges from storm overflows.
All told, the Environment Bill now contains six pages of provision to reduce sewage and storm overflows. No bill has been passed in the last thirty years that is as comprehensive in addressing this matter. I hope this reassures you that while the process of making legislation can be messy, I have been working as your MP to ensure we address this issue. I have remained a supporter of Surfers Against Sewage and I supported Philip Dunne MP’s Private Members Bill last year.