Thank you for contacting me regarding water quality.
As a firm supporter of the fishing community, a wild swimmer, a conservationist, and a part-time angler, I completely agree with you that raw effluent flowing into our waterways and on to our beaches cannot be allowed to continue.
As you know, the Government has now published the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan, which will require water companies to deliver their largest ever environmental infrastructure investment - £56 billion capital investment over 25 years.
Water companies will have to achieve a number of strict targets and failure to meet these targets could see them face substantial fines or having to return money to customers.
I understand that by 2035, water companies will have to improve all storm overflows discharging into or near every designated bathing water and improve 75 per cent of overflows discharging to high priority nature sites. By 2050, this will apply to all remaining storm overflows covered by our targets, regardless of location.
Ministers will review the plan in 2027 to consider where we can go further, taking account of innovation and efficiencies.
Some may be disappointed by these targets and feel they should be more ambitious, but it is important to bear in mind that under this plan there will be no changes to the bills paid by consumers until 2025. These plans strike the right balance between the need for investment and the impact on consumers. The Government has ruled out options which could add up to £817 a year to average household water bills.
The plan also sets out Ministers’ wider expectations for the water industry, to ensure their infrastructure keeps pace with increasing external pressures, such as urban growth and climate change and to ensure our water supplies remain clean and secure for the future.