Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 30
30
Acknowledged
Paragraph: 179
We were dismayed to learn that some water companies have been slow to respond to...
Conclusion
We were dismayed to learn that some water companies have been slow to respond to formal requests by campaigners and citizen scientists under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 to secure information about EDM use and permit conditions on the sewerage network. Given the overwhelming public concern about water quality in rivers in England, greater transparency in this respect should become the norm. We welcome the commitments on improved transparency which we received directly from the chief executives of several water companies.
Government response summary AI-generated
The Government welcomes the recommendation, notes that the Strategic Policy Statement makes clear that the current number of discharges is unacceptable and water companies must significantly reduce the discharge of sewage from storm overflows, and that outcomes will be set out in the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
179
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government · verbatim extract
Acknowledged
We agree that the quality and transparency of public data on sewage overflows must be improved. The Government is already working closely with the Environment Agency, the Storm Overflows Taskforce and the water industry on relevant proposals to enable this and ensure accountability. Water companies have committed to bring forward full event duration monitoring by 2023. The Environment Act also introduced a duty for water companies to monitor the water quality up and downstream from their assets and we will be bringing forward more detail on this in due course.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗