It was—I was going to say “delightful”, but that sounds rather patronising and I do not mean that at all. It was “reassuring” to hear the words of the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Whitchurch, because I cannot find a single word to disagree with. Nevertheless, I have a few points to add to this debate. I hope to speak to Amendment 161, the insertion of the Philip Dunne Bill, but also Amendment 161A in our name, on the reduction of the number of septic tanks, and Amendments 165 to 174.
We are advised that, despite years of investment, sewage and agricultural pollution still plague the UK’s rivers and coasts. Only 16% of inland waterways in England meet good ecological status, none of them passes the chemical tests and the UK now ranks last
for bathing water quality in Europe. We could have a separate, long discussion about where the assets of our water companies throughout our land have gone since the companies were privatised; they certainly have not got into investing in and improving the facilities.
Water users who interact with water are also being put at risk of contracting harmful illnesses and antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, and I want to return to that issue later. The overwhelming cause of this pollution is the UK’s outdated infrastructure, which cannot handle the pressures of increasing population, urbanisation and climate change. Water companies are therefore routinely relying on combined sewer overflows, CSOs, so graphically described by the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, to manage demand.
Amendment 161 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, brings back into play the provisions of the Private Member’s Bill prepared by the right honourable Philip Dunne MP, which, I am actually appalled to hear, never got to Second Reading in the previous Parliament. Its provisions will be a welcome addition to the Bill. Again, we shall return to that later, I am sure.
Amendment 161 seeks to achieve the progressive reduction of managing domestic sewage waste through septic tanks discharging into rivers. They are mainly located in rural or semi-rural areas unconnected to mains sewers, and are often inefficient and poorly maintained. I understand that in continental Europe, septic tanks are being progressively phased out and are becoming increasingly rare, yet in the UK it has become a national issue yet to be addressed as a primitive legacy of a pre-industrial age.
This is again primarily a question of investment in sewerage infrastructure to connect to the large number of sewage works already handling sewage from smaller communities. As part of that investment, phosphate strippers should be fitted at sewage works serving communities of 5,000 or more. This would start to address the extensive algal growth now known to be as likely to be associated with sewage works as with farming. The investment comes at a cost, but it should be to investors rather than customers.
8.30 pm
Returning to Amendments 161 to 175, the BBC and others recently reported that according to figures published by the Environment Agency, water companies discharged raw sewage into rivers in England more than 400,000 times in 2020. The worst culprits were United Utilities in the north-west, at close to 114,000 times, while the chalk streams regions together totalled some 84,000 times. I mention this because, as we know, the aquifer for chalk streams is particularly vulnerable. Overall, water companies discharged sewage into rivers for more than 3 million hours of storm overflows in 2020, releasing untreated effluent and human waste.
Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, said that it was working actively—I do not know how you can work inactively—with the water companies to ensure that overflows were properly controlled. However, the Rivers Trust, which I am sure is working actively, said:
“This is a shocking volume of untreated contaminated wastewater reaching our rivers and shows that our current approach and infrastructure, managing storm water in particular, needs a radical overhaul.”
The Environment Agency claims that releasing sewage into rivers and streams after extreme weather events is a necessary part of the existing sewerage system. Some would call it a panic measure. It asks open-water swimmers, kayakers, paddlers, and dog walkers, to avoid contact with water during and after sewage spills.
England’s rivers are clearly being routinely polluted by raw sewage flowing through from combined sewage overflows, degrading the environment, and putting water users at risk of contracting serious and, not infrequently, fatal illnesses. I ask the Minister, in the interests of public health, what records are being kept and analysed by the Environment Agency and local authorities of reported incidents of serious illness following raw sewage discharges, particularly those associated with consumption of faecal matter? Where are the records kept and who has access to them? I would be very grateful if the Minister could respond.