The amount of sewage discharged by water companies into our rivers is unacceptable and the Government has set out expectations that water companies must take steps to significantly reduce storm overflows.
As you know, in March 2022, the Government published the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan. This will revolutionise how water companies tackle the number of discharges of untreated sewage. Water companies will face strict limits on when they can use storm overflows and must completely eliminate the harm any sewage discharge causes to the environment. Under the proposed plan, by 2035, the environmental impacts of 3,000 storm overflows affecting our most important protected sites will have been eliminated. By 2035, there will be 70 per cent fewer discharges into bathing waters and by 2040, approximately 160,000 discharges, on average, will have been eliminated (40 per cent of the total); and by 2050, approximately 320,000 discharges, on average, will have been eliminated (80 per cent of the total).
Further, the Strategic Policy Statement for Ofwat sets an expectation on water companies to make progressive reductions in the adverse impacts from storm overflows, including reducing their frequency and volume. The landmark Environment Act has placed this ambition on a statutory footing, setting a duty for water companies to achieve a progressive reduction in the adverse impacts of discharges from storm overflows.
The Environment Act also ensures that water companies are more transparent, requiring the publication of spill data in near real-time and the monitoring of water quality impacts upstream and downstream of all storm overflows and wastewater treatment works. Almost nine in ten storm overflows already have monitoring devices installed, and all 15,000 overflows will have monitors by the end of 2023. This technology provides vital information about the use of storm overflows, which can be used to hold water companies to account and drive environmental protections.
Finally, I know that between 2020 and 2025, water companies will invest £7.1 billion on environmental improvements in England. Of this, £3.1 billion will be invested in storm overflow improvements specifically.