To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 17 March 2026 to question 119539, whether she plans to take action against a) Yorkshire Water for monitoring sewage overflow levels at Palterton Main Street Combined Sewage Overflow and b) Severn Trent Water...

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 17 March 2026 to question 119539, whether she plans to take action against a) Yorkshire Water for monitoring sewage overflow levels at Palterton Main Street Combined Sewage Overflow and b) Severn Trent Water...

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department has taken in response to spills into the Kennet, Pang, and Lambourn chalk streams from Thames Water sewage treatment works between 2021 and 2025.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department has taken in response to spills into the Kennet, Pang, and Lambourn chalk streams from Thames Water sewage treatment works between 2021 and 2025.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential compliance risks caused by erroneous monitoring data at Thames Water sewage treatment works, including East Shefford, Winterbourne, Hamstead Marshall, and Hungerford.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential compliance risks caused by erroneous monitoring data at Thames Water sewage treatment works, including East Shefford, Winterbourne, Hamstead Marshall, and Hungerford.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will (a) commission an independent assessment of the potential (i) environmental and (ii) health impact of using recycled waste water and (b) pause approval of water (A) transfer and (B) recycling projects until that assessment is...

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will (a) commission an independent assessment of the potential (i) environmental and (ii) health impact of using recycled waste water and (b) pause approval of water (A) transfer and (B) recycling projects until that assessment is...

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on prosecutions for non-compliance by (a) water and (b) sewerage companies at wastewater treatment works.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on prosecutions for non-compliance by (a) water and (b) sewerage companies at wastewater treatment works.

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the requirement set for companies by the Environment Agency that new flow monitors be installed on wastewater treatment works, what update can they provide on the progress of these installations.

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the requirement set for companies by the Environment Agency that new flow monitors be installed on wastewater treatment works, what update can they provide on the progress of these installations.

My Lords, I am pleased to introduce this debate on the affluent and the effluent. I thank our staff for their valuable contributions to the committee’s work, and the many contributors who gave evidence to the inquiry.

In May last year, we launched our inquiry into water and sewage regulation following...

My Lords, I am pleased to introduce this debate on the affluent and the effluent. I thank our staff for their valuable contributions to the committee’s work, and the many contributors who gave evidence to the inquiry.

In May last year, we launched our inquiry into water and sewage regulation following...

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Hollick, for precipitating this debate. I declare an interest as a member of the Industry and Regulators Committee and as a farmer who holds some irrigation licences.

As you will see from the report our committee published on 23 September, to...

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Hollick, for precipitating this debate. I declare an interest as a member of the Industry and Regulators Committee and as a farmer who holds some irrigation licences.

As you will see from the report our committee published on 23 September, to...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Agnew, who in the committee gave us many examples of practical things that could be done. I am glad he has had the opportunity to raise them in the House today.

To say that the investigation into the water...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Agnew, who in the committee gave us many examples of practical things that could be done. I am glad he has had the opportunity to raise them in the House today.

To say that the investigation into the water...

My Lords, I had the privilege of being a member of the committee that produced this report under the incisive chairmanship of the noble Lord, Lord Hollick. At the start of our inquiry I actually had some sympathy with the regulators and the water companies. The regulator, Ofwat, had been...

My Lords, I had the privilege of being a member of the committee that produced this report under the incisive chairmanship of the noble Lord, Lord Hollick. At the start of our inquiry I actually had some sympathy with the regulators and the water companies. The regulator, Ofwat, had been...

My Lords, I have been on the Industry and Regulators Committee since its inception and I am pleased that, before my

time to rotate off, we will be looking at the issue, among other things, of whether regulators have the right kinds of remits, overlaps and priorities and whether the...

My Lords, I have been on the Industry and Regulators Committee since its inception and I am pleased that, before my

time to rotate off, we will be looking at the issue, among other things, of whether regulators have the right kinds of remits, overlaps and priorities and whether the...

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Hollick, and the members of his committee on the most fantastic report. I have really enjoyed this debate so far and I look forward to the Minister’s replies on all these crucial issues of public health and the health of nature and...

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Hollick, and the members of his committee on the most fantastic report. I have really enjoyed this debate so far and I look forward to the Minister’s replies on all these crucial issues of public health and the health of nature and...

My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Hollick for his cogent introduction, and thank the committee for what is a trenchant, highly critical report with very interesting recommendations and conclusions. This is a complete failure of the system of regulation, post-privatisation. I would also like to thank whoever invented...

My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Hollick for his cogent introduction, and thank the committee for what is a trenchant, highly critical report with very interesting recommendations and conclusions. This is a complete failure of the system of regulation, post-privatisation. I would also like to thank whoever invented...

My Lords, I must first declare my interests as a farmer and chair of the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.

Rivers are an important source of life. They host a huge range of species, both above and below the waterline—too many to list in a five-minute speech. They also have...

My Lords, I must first declare my interests as a farmer and chair of the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.

Rivers are an important source of life. They host a huge range of species, both above and below the waterline—too many to list in a five-minute speech. They also have...

My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Hollick and the members of the Industry and Regulators Committee for their excellent report. In common with many previous speakers, I have no confidence in Ofwat; it needs to be replaced by a body which is independent of the industry and has...

My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Hollick and the members of the Industry and Regulators Committee for their excellent report. In common with many previous speakers, I have no confidence in Ofwat; it needs to be replaced by a body which is independent of the industry and has...

My Lords, I declare my registered interests that are relevant to this debate. I welcome the Industry and Regulators Committee’s report and congratulate its members, particularly the chairman, the noble Lord, Lord Hollick.

When the water companies were privatised in 1989, I cannot imagine that Ministers then thought that so many...

My Lords, I declare my registered interests that are relevant to this debate. I welcome the Industry and Regulators Committee’s report and congratulate its members, particularly the chairman, the noble Lord, Lord Hollick.

When the water companies were privatised in 1989, I cannot imagine that Ministers then thought that so many...

My Lords, as a newly appointed member of the Industry and Regulators Committee, I am privileged to have my name attached to this report, although I did not participate in the earlier evidence session. As chair, my noble friend Lord Hollick skilfully led the committee to its unanimous and deeply...

My Lords, as a newly appointed member of the Industry and Regulators Committee, I am privileged to have my name attached to this report, although I did not participate in the earlier evidence session. As chair, my noble friend Lord Hollick skilfully led the committee to its unanimous and deeply...

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Hollick, on his excellent introduction to this brilliant report. All contributors to the debate have raised the worrying operational methods of the water companies. The noble Lord, Lord Cameron of Dillington, raised the absence of water testing.

Water is a resource we have...

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Hollick, on his excellent introduction to this brilliant report. All contributors to the debate have raised the worrying operational methods of the water companies. The noble Lord, Lord Cameron of Dillington, raised the absence of water testing.

Water is a resource we have...

My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Hollick for his introduction to our debate on this excellent report. He laid out the recommendations that the report makes to the Government, which have been discussed by noble Lords today.

I will pick up a few of the recommendations in particular, looking...

My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Hollick for his introduction to our debate on this excellent report. He laid out the recommendations that the report makes to the Government, which have been discussed by noble Lords today.

I will pick up a few of the recommendations in particular, looking...

My Lords, I refer noble Lords to my entry in the register and start by thanking the noble Lord, Lord Hollick, and the members of the Industry and Regulators Committee, for the report. This has been a thorough and wide-ranging inquiry and, as the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, showed, it...

My Lords, I refer noble Lords to my entry in the register and start by thanking the noble Lord, Lord Hollick, and the members of the Industry and Regulators Committee, for the report. This has been a thorough and wide-ranging inquiry and, as the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, showed, it...