Thank you to those who have contacted me about the Sewage (Inland Water) Bill. 

The Sewage (Inland Waters) Bill proposes to enshrine into law a duty on water companies to take all reasonable steps to ensure that untreated sewage is not released into rivers and other inland waters. The Bill's proposers are seeking to support the Government in meeting its environmental commitments by placing obligations on the Government, Ofwat and the Environment Agency to ensure compliance with this duty. I am committed to the environmental ambitions that the Government has already outlined and agree that this is an important issue.

Water features prominently in the Government’s 25-year environment plan, which sets out priorities relating to supply, leakage, demand, consumption and the investment needed in infrastructure. I am aware that in 2019, the Environment Agency sampled 420 bathing waters in England. The Agency found that 98.3 per cent of the designated bathing waters tested met the Bathing Water Regulations’ minimum standard of “sufficient” with 71.4 per cent meeting the highest “excellent” standard.

While it is disappointing that seven bathing waters were classified “poor”, I am encouraged by the action being taken to improve designated bathing waters in England. Over recent years, hundreds of projects have been completed to improve bathing water quality and successfully drive up standards. As well as this around £25 billion has been invested to reduce pollution from sewage since water privatisation, covering improvements in sewage treatment and overflows. I also know that in England, between 2015 and 2020, water companies are investing over £3 billion to improve their sewerage infrastructure.