Lords Industry and Regulators Committee writes to Thérèse Coffey about government sewage discharge failures

The House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee has written to Thérèse Coffey MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, asking her to address failures by the government in relation to the levels of sewage discharges in the UK’s rivers and beaches.

The letter has been sent by the committee’s Chair, Lord Hollick, ahead of Ms Coffey’s appearance before the committee in early 2023. It also asks her to address:

• the overall performance of Ofwat and the Environment Agency and whether they are too passive in responding to water pollution;
• the level of infrastructure investment needed to eliminate sewage spillages; 
• government failure to introduce measures requested by water companies to ban non-biodegradable wet wipes;
• the acceptable level of return on capital invested in water companies;
• whether Ofwat should require water companies to surrender their licence to operate if they persistently fail to invest at the required level;
• Performance-related bonuses for water company executives despite persistent sewage spillages;
• the capacity of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to hold regulators and water companies to account.

The committee has requested a response by Friday 13 January 2023.

The letter can be read and downloaded at - https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/31843/documents/179085/default/
 

Notes to Editors

1. The Industry and Regulators Committee considers matters relating to industry, including the policies of His Majesty’s Government to promote industrial growth, skills, and competitiveness, and to scrutinise the work of UK regulators.
2. Launched in May 2022, the Committee’s Ofwat inquiry considers Ofwat’s performance against its statutory objectives and whether it has the powers and resources to needed to meet those objectives.