Thérèse Coffey is Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and MP for Suffolk Coastal.
Sewage entering our rivers is clearly unacceptable. The public is rightly disgusted by the water companies’ excessive use of overflows, which is a blight on our beautiful rivers and coastlines.
Sewage overflows stem from our principally Victorian infrastructure combining rainwater and wastewater pipes to the local waterworks, with the outflows designed to act as a safety valve in times of heavy rainfall to stop sewage backing up into our homes and streets.
Clearly, our water companies have become over-reliant on them.
Indeed, I was particularly horrified during a recent meeting when one water company did not seem to know the reason for a single one of their overflows being used. This reinforced my demand for an action plan for every single overflow by the summer.
In my time being the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and then Health, I have always lifted the lid on problems, never stepped away from a challenge, and set out a clear action plan for delivery. Now that I am the Environment Secretary, I am determined to tackle the scourge of sewage pollution.
Last week, I set out our Plan for Water – both tackling pollution and ensuring long-term supply.
In contrast, the gimmicks, tricks, and the downright dishonest scams that we are now seeing from Labour and the Liberal Democrats are typical. Frankly, when they were in government, they did not deal with the proverbial.
Now they are full of it: either promising solutions overnight or proposing schemes which would effectively lumping hundreds of pounds onto bills when families are facing cost-of-living challenges, with no real plan to deliver, saying what is politically convenient rather than setting out a credible plan.
Labour’s main trick is to claim they have presented legislation to Parliament to tackle this. Parliament has never seen the proposed legislation, just the long title, and the Shadow Secretary of State also tabled this for debate for a Friday in April – when he knew Parliament would not be sitting, and so it will never become law.
While Labour will keep peddling this non-existent legislation, let’s look at what they propose.
First, the bill seeks to introduce monitoring for storm overflows. Conservatives will deliver 100 per cent monitoring by the end of this year, after Conservative ministers initiated monitoring for transparency a decade ago.
Second, it seeks to introduce targets and a strategy to reduce overflows, accompanied by an economic impact assessment. Conservatives have already done it.
We published the strategy last year, as required by the Environment Act 2021, setting out the largest infrastructure programme in water company history, totalling an estimated £56 billion over the next 25 years. It prioritises protected habitats for nature and bathing waters, and it comes with a full impact assessment.
Third, Labour have committed to “end systematic sewage discharges by 2030”. Given they have yet to publish the full text of the legislation, beyond their headline messages which they peddle to the press, it is unclear as to what “systematic” means.
If that means ending all sewage discharges in just seven years, that requires funding of potentially up to nearly £600 billion, and will result in hundreds of pounds being added to bills.
We know because we published a full report detailing what it would take to end overflow use. It would mean separating all remaining combined pipes – enough new piping to stretch two and a half times around the world – in order to keep rainwater out of the wastewater system.
Given the amount of cement that would require, it’s unclear how the construction industry could deliver that, nor how the Labour Party will fund it.
Lastly, the Labour Party call for stronger fines for water companies. I agree that we need to improve the powers our regulators have to hold water companies to account. With the possibility already of unlimited fines via proceedings through the courts, I have also proposed unlimited financial penalties, and will make it easier for regulators to apply them.
At present, all of our water companies are under investigation for illegal sewage discharges. I will support our regulators to hold them to account, with unlimited fines where appropriate. This will build on the record £144 million in fines secured by our regulators in recent years. We will also see that money reinvested directly into our rivers, through the new Water Restoration Fund.
Let’s remember when Labour were last in government. While the Shadow Secretary may try to paint a rosier picture, they left our air and water quality in a terrible state. Indeed, they were successfully taken to court for failing to tackle sewage by the EU. They had fewer bathing waters than now and only about 50 per cent were deemed to have excellent status.
This is now up to 72 per cent, with overall about 93 per cent being excellent or good.
Meanwhile, we have the same old Lib Dem fibs; quick to promise to ban sewage discharges overnight, but not the wherewithal to deliver it. Instead they are seemingly content for the only other current alternative: sewage discharge backing up into your homes instead.
And for the avoidance of any doubt given their clickbait leaflets, Conservative MPs have only ever voted for increased duties, investment, and powers regarding storm overflows.
We have never voted to weaken existing legislation – and that includes the Urban Wastewater Treatment Regulations 1994, which Feargal Sharkey regularly touts on Twitter.
It was the Conservatives who brought the private sector into the water industry. This was the right thing to do as since then, nearly £200 billion has been invested in improving water infrastructure and over 40 per cent of the pipe network has been replaced, with a focus on tackling leakage and improving water quality.
Over a decade later, we are seeing the construction of London’s brand new super sewer, which with government support and careful management has cost billpayers about £20-30 a year.
We know the scale of the challenge is large. But we cannot expect billpayers to put up with such levels of pollution without poor performance being penalised. Therefore water companies will be penalised for breaches, and Ofwat now has powers to link payouts to performance.
Water companies have a special status in enjoying a local monopoly, reflecting the delivery challenge of our water and sewage network. However, in return for the special situation our water companies enjoy, we need to see the private sector to step up, invest, and deliver.
Thérèse Coffey is Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and MP for Suffolk Coastal.
Sewage entering our rivers is clearly unacceptable. The public is rightly disgusted by the water companies’ excessive use of overflows, which is a blight on our beautiful rivers and coastlines.
Sewage overflows stem from our principally Victorian infrastructure combining rainwater and wastewater pipes to the local waterworks, with the outflows designed to act as a safety valve in times of heavy rainfall to stop sewage backing up into our homes and streets.
Clearly, our water companies have become over-reliant on them.
Indeed, I was particularly horrified during a recent meeting when one water company did not seem to know the reason for a single one of their overflows being used. This reinforced my demand for an action plan for every single overflow by the summer.
In my time being the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and then Health, I have always lifted the lid on problems, never stepped away from a challenge, and set out a clear action plan for delivery. Now that I am the Environment Secretary, I am determined to tackle the scourge of sewage pollution.
Last week, I set out our Plan for Water – both tackling pollution and ensuring long-term supply.
In contrast, the gimmicks, tricks, and the downright dishonest scams that we are now seeing from Labour and the Liberal Democrats are typical. Frankly, when they were in government, they did not deal with the proverbial.
Now they are full of it: either promising solutions overnight or proposing schemes which would effectively lumping hundreds of pounds onto bills when families are facing cost-of-living challenges, with no real plan to deliver, saying what is politically convenient rather than setting out a credible plan.
Labour’s main trick is to claim they have presented legislation to Parliament to tackle this. Parliament has never seen the proposed legislation, just the long title, and the Shadow Secretary of State also tabled this for debate for a Friday in April – when he knew Parliament would not be sitting, and so it will never become law.
While Labour will keep peddling this non-existent legislation, let’s look at what they propose.
First, the bill seeks to introduce monitoring for storm overflows. Conservatives will deliver 100 per cent monitoring by the end of this year, after Conservative ministers initiated monitoring for transparency a decade ago.
Second, it seeks to introduce targets and a strategy to reduce overflows, accompanied by an economic impact assessment. Conservatives have already done it.
We published the strategy last year, as required by the Environment Act 2021, setting out the largest infrastructure programme in water company history, totalling an estimated £56 billion over the next 25 years. It prioritises protected habitats for nature and bathing waters, and it comes with a full impact assessment.
Third, Labour have committed to “end systematic sewage discharges by 2030”. Given they have yet to publish the full text of the legislation, beyond their headline messages which they peddle to the press, it is unclear as to what “systematic” means.
If that means ending all sewage discharges in just seven years, that requires funding of potentially up to nearly £600 billion, and will result in hundreds of pounds being added to bills.
We know because we published a full report detailing what it would take to end overflow use. It would mean separating all remaining combined pipes – enough new piping to stretch two and a half times around the world – in order to keep rainwater out of the wastewater system.
Given the amount of cement that would require, it’s unclear how the construction industry could deliver that, nor how the Labour Party will fund it.
Lastly, the Labour Party call for stronger fines for water companies. I agree that we need to improve the powers our regulators have to hold water companies to account. With the possibility already of unlimited fines via proceedings through the courts, I have also proposed unlimited financial penalties, and will make it easier for regulators to apply them.
At present, all of our water companies are under investigation for illegal sewage discharges. I will support our regulators to hold them to account, with unlimited fines where appropriate. This will build on the record £144 million in fines secured by our regulators in recent years. We will also see that money reinvested directly into our rivers, through the new Water Restoration Fund.
Let’s remember when Labour were last in government. While the Shadow Secretary may try to paint a rosier picture, they left our air and water quality in a terrible state. Indeed, they were successfully taken to court for failing to tackle sewage by the EU. They had fewer bathing waters than now and only about 50 per cent were deemed to have excellent status.
This is now up to 72 per cent, with overall about 93 per cent being excellent or good.
Meanwhile, we have the same old Lib Dem fibs; quick to promise to ban sewage discharges overnight, but not the wherewithal to deliver it. Instead they are seemingly content for the only other current alternative: sewage discharge backing up into your homes instead.
And for the avoidance of any doubt given their clickbait leaflets, Conservative MPs have only ever voted for increased duties, investment, and powers regarding storm overflows.
We have never voted to weaken existing legislation – and that includes the Urban Wastewater Treatment Regulations 1994, which Feargal Sharkey regularly touts on Twitter.
It was the Conservatives who brought the private sector into the water industry. This was the right thing to do as since then, nearly £200 billion has been invested in improving water infrastructure and over 40 per cent of the pipe network has been replaced, with a focus on tackling leakage and improving water quality.
Over a decade later, we are seeing the construction of London’s brand new super sewer, which with government support and careful management has cost billpayers about £20-30 a year.
We know the scale of the challenge is large. But we cannot expect billpayers to put up with such levels of pollution without poor performance being penalised. Therefore water companies will be penalised for breaches, and Ofwat now has powers to link payouts to performance.
Water companies have a special status in enjoying a local monopoly, reflecting the delivery challenge of our water and sewage network. However, in return for the special situation our water companies enjoy, we need to see the private sector to step up, invest, and deliver.