It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Under section 207(1) of the Water Industry Act 1991, it is a criminal offence to knowingly or recklessly provide information under the Act that is false in a material respect.

Proceedings for an offence under section 207(1) can be brought by or with the consent of the Secretary of State or of the Director of Public Prosecutions. A conviction is punishable by a fine.

Proceedings could be taken against an individual or the company.

Ofwat is not a criminal enforcement body, so has no role in bringing proceedings under section 207(1).

The Department is committed to introducing modern trains fit for the 21st century that improve passenger experience and are accessible for all. We are closely monitoring Northern’s progress on introducing new trains and upgrading existing fleets. This includes the fitting of tanks to cease the practice of emitting waste to the track. The provision of accessible trains is key to enabling accessible rail travel, and we will deal with any failure to deliver contractual obligations according to the normal processes under the terms of that franchise agreement.

More than 1000 new services have now got new or refurbished-as-new trains in the North that will transform the journey experience for passengers.

In England, sewage is collected and treated at approximately 5,500 water company sewage treatment works. Discharges from these works occur on a daily basis and are permitted by the Environment Agency. Additionally, during wet weather there may be discharges from storm overflows.

Reports of both the volume of discharges from sewage treatment works and spill numbers from storm overflows in England are submitted to the Environment Agency on an annual basis as per the requirements in the permits. There is no routine requirement to provide reports at three or six monthly intervals.

While no data is available specifically for the last three or six months, based on the latest reported data for 2018 the daily average volume of treated sewage discharge from sewage treatment works was 17.5 billion litres per day. Spill data was also reported for 6,182 storm overflows in England with a total of 146,930 spill events during 2018.

There is currently a programme to install monitoring on the vast majority of overflows in England by 2020. This monitoring will measure how frequently and for how long an overflow operates.

In England, sewage is collected and treated at approximately 5,500 water company sewage treatment works. Discharges from these works occur on a daily basis and are permitted by the Environment Agency. Additionally, during wet weather there may be discharges from storm overflows.

Reports of both the volume of discharges from sewage treatment works and spill numbers from storm overflows in England are submitted to the Environment Agency on an annual basis as per the requirements in the permits. There is no routine requirement to provide reports at three or six monthly intervals.

While no data is available specifically for the last three or six months, based on the latest reported data for 2018 the daily average volume of treated sewage discharge from sewage treatment works was 17.5 billion litres per day. Spill data was also reported for 6,182 storm overflows in England with a total of 146,930 spill events during 2018.

There is currently a programme to install monitoring on the vast majority of overflows in England by 2020. This monitoring will measure how frequently and for how long an overflow operates.

Since 1995 over £25 billion has been invested in improving sewage treatment and sewerage collection systems. This has achieved a 61% reduction in the amount of phosphorus and a 72% reduction in the amount of ammonia discharged to rivers. Bathing waters and rivers are cleaner than ever but there is still more to do. The recent deterioration in the environmental performance of the water industry, particularly in respect of pollution incidents is unacceptable. The Environment Agency (EA) expect the industry to minimise serious pollution incidents and approach a zero target by 2020.

The EA has begun a new Improving Water Company Performance programme which will toughen regulation to encourage the companies to meet their environmental targets. The programme will include:

• Enhancing the EA’s regulatory tools and approaches, including more inspections, increasing the number of in-depth audits and greater use of technology to remotely monitor operations twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

• Maximising the use of enforcement and sanctions powers so they act as a powerful deterrent.

• Updating the Environmental Performance Assessment targets for the 2021-2025 period to include a broader range of measures with tightened standards where appropriate.

• Working with Ofwat to develop greater links between environmental performance and financial penalties and incentives.

• Requiring water companies to produce root cause analysis reports for serious pollution incidents and to learn from them.

• Requiring water companies to produce a pollution reduction plan signed off at CEO level which they will be accountable for.

• Requesting that they proactively share good practice as an industry wide response to the problems we are facing

Last year, the Environment Agency (EA) reported that there had been good progress in meeting water quality targets. Since 1995, investment in sewage treatment has achieved a 61% reduction in the amount of phosphorus and a 72% reduction in the amount of ammonia discharged to rivers. We will continue to work with the water companies.

The Government absolutely take that seriously. Investment in sewerage has seen a huge reduction in phosphorous and ammonia entering waters, and the Environment Agency is very active on the issue. It undertakes checks of the ecological health of rivers regularly and it will, as will Ofwat, take action against Yorkshire Water when it fails.

Does the Minister share my concern that the Environment Agency states that Yorkshire Water has unacceptable environmental pollution performance, and that Yorkshire Water discharged sewage into the River Wharfe on no fewer than 123 days last year?

The Environment Agency commenced a criminal investigation into Southern Water in 2016 due to suspected permit breaches at a number of its sites. The matter is ongoing and it would be inappropriate to give further details at this stage.

The Environment Agency (EA) operates a daily pollution risk forecasting service via the internet which notifies the public of pollution risks at England’s 421 designated bathing waters, during the bathing season (May-September). This service makes pollution forecasts based on known issues affecting bathing water quality (e.g. periods of heavy rainfall) and includes information of ongoing real-time pollution incidents.

The information the EA provides is also made available to the public by Surfers Against Sewage who include it in their Safer Seas Service application, alongside information on spills from storm overflows that is provided by water companies.

Additionally, the EA is working with water companies on a programme to secure Event Duration Monitoring (EDM) on the vast majority of inland and coastal storm overflows in England by 2020. EDM measures the performance of storm overflows in terms of how often and for how long they spill which allows high risk overflows to be identified prior to evidence of environmental impact. This information is used to inform future improvement programmes for storm overflows.

For storm overflows that discharge to sensitive waters such as to bathing beaches or other inland high amenity areas, we require the water companies to install automated communications telemetry, so that they know in real time when a storm overflow has discharged. Some water companies are extending this real time reporting for the majority of their storm overflows.

The Environment Agency has a live investigation into Southern Water so it would be inappropriate to give further details at this stage.

Ofwat’s powers allow it to take action against a company rather than an individual. Under section 22A of the Water Industry Act 1991 Ofwat can impose financial penalties of up to 10 per cent of a company’s annual turnover for a breach of legal obligation. Misreporting is classified as a breach of a water company’s licence condition. Calculation of turnover is made in relation to either the water business or the sewerage services business, unless the breach relates to both parts of the business.

Verified data is provided for the total volume of discharge for each month between January 2018 and December 2019 when discharge events occurred.

The bathing beaches at Sunderland and Whitburn consistently achieve ‘Good’ or ‘Excellent’ quality under the Bathing Waters Directive. As required environmental standards are being met, the Environment Agency, which acts on behalf of the Government on local environmental planning matters, has no immediate plans to meet with Northumbrian Water or the local authorities about reducing the impact of sewage discharges.

The Environment Agency will continue to monitor bathing water quality and meet regularly with Northumbrian Water to discuss any improvements when they are required. It also gives planning advice to local authorities such as Sunderland City Council and South Tyneside Council on any matters that concern bathing water quality.

Based on the current available data there has been an approximate 37% reduction in spill numbers and a 43% reduction in spill volume since the completion of the enhancement works, against the average for the previous ten year period.

Prior to the completion of the enhancement works at Whitburn long sea outfall, records showed an average of 27 storm sewage discharge ‘spills’ totalling around 660,000 cubic metres each year for the ten year period from 2008 to 2017.

In 2018, the first year of operation for the enhanced system, records show 17 storm sewage discharge ‘spills’ totalling around 380,000 cubic metres.

Over the past 25 years, the water industry has spent over £25 billion on sewage treatment works and sewerage system upgrades driven by environmental directives to improve water quality. This has delivered a 61% reduction in the amount of polluting phosphorus and a 72% reduction in the amount of ammonia discharged from wastewater treatment works since 1995. In addition, 7,000 combined sewer overflows have been improved, reducing the impact of pollution from sewage discharges.

In the current investment period (2015-2020) the water companies are investing over £3 billion to improve their sewage treatment and sewerage infrastructure. During the next investment period (2020-2025), plans have been put forward to deliver over £4.5 billion on environmental improvements. These include:

(a) Modernisation of around 2,300 wastewater treatment works to meet environmental quality standards such as those required by the Water Framework Directive, Bathing Waters Directive and Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive.

(b) Increasing the capacity of around 550 wastewater treatment works and storm tanks to ensure that they are treating the correct amount of sewage flow and to accommodate future growth.

(c) Investing in sewerage infrastructure improvement to monitor and reduce the frequency and volume of storm sewage discharged from combined sewer overflows.

Continuous improvements have been made to the sewerage system in the area, with the latest being the completion of a scheme to reduce storm sewage discharges from the Whitburn long sea outfall in December 2017. This has reduced the frequency in discharges from the system by around 40% compared to the average from the old system.

It is the responsibility of individual fire and rescue authorities, as employers, to ensure that health screening and blood tests, suitable for the risks faced, are available to their firefighters.
There have been no discussions between the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the inclusion of effluents and carcinogens in public health checks after large-scale fires.