Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2023 to Question 183233 on Sewage and Water: Wales, if he will take steps with the Welsh Government to publish a timetable for commencing section 48(1) of the Wales Act 2017.
Daisy Cooper: ...country, it really concerns me that the Secretary of State can still change thousands of environmental laws at will, through secondary legislation, without scrutiny. Many of those laws relate to sewage that can be dumped into our rivers and chalk streams and on to our beaches. Will she make a firm commitment at the Dispatch Box today that the Government will not repeal or change any...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...issues that need to be addressed by infrastructure in Wales over the long term. Infrastructure is considerably more than flooding and climate change; it is transportation, health services, schools, sewage systems and much more. The commission could be considered by any business organisation, or by constituents, really, who will look at this and should actually be asking: how much value for...
Natalie Elphicke: ...approach to tackling this issue. The basis for nutrient neutrality is fundamentally flawed, first, because the causes of high nutrient levels in rivers are agricultural run-off, the pumping of sewage into rivers and the failure of water companies over many years to upgrade their infrastructure to tackle the problem. Secondly, the contribution of new homes to the problem is very small in...
Richard Drax: ...to take to refurbish the asylum accommodation vessel she plans to use in Portland Port; what facilities she plans to provide on that vessel; and what provisions she plans to make for (a) water, (b) sewage, (c) electricity, (d) gas, (e) rubbish collection and (f) mobile phone and wifi connectivity on that vessel.
Edward Davey: ...Conservative voters turned to the Liberal Democrats to be their strong local champions. They delivered their verdict on the Government’s failure to hold water companies to account for dumping raw sewage into our rivers and on to our beaches. Last year, water bosses were paid £15 million in bonuses—rewarded for destroying our precious natural environment. Three of those executives have...
Rebecca Pow: ...treatment process and is often used on agricultural land to meet soil and crop need. Sludge use on land is regulated through the Sludge Use in Agriculture Regulations (1989) and is supported by the Sewage Sludge in Agriculture Code of Practice. The water clarification sludge generated by water companies during preparation of water intended for human consumption is regulated as a waste by...
Rebecca Pow: ...regulate sludge output from water companies. The Sludge Use in Agriculture Regulations (1989) regulate against industrial contaminants in sludge which is spread to land and is supported by the Sewage Sludge in Agriculture Code of Practice, which sets out the parameters you must meet in order to spread sludge to land. These parameters include which treatment type the sludge has undergone,...
Rebecca Pow: ...planning. Through our Strategic Policy Statement to Ofwat, we have set, for the first time, a direction to water companies that they must prioritise the environment, including through reducing sewage discharges and their adverse impact. The Environment Act 2021 places duty on water companies to produce comprehensive statutory Drainage and Sewerage Management Plans (also known as...
Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, for what reason the provisions of section 48(1) of the Wales Act 2017 have not been brought into force.
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to hold water companies to account for repeated and illegal discharges of untreated wastewater.
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is planning to take steps to hold water companies to account by publishing wastewater discharge volumes.
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to reduce (a) microplastic wastewater discharges and (b) illegal wastewater discharges.
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering: ...is an obsession to build four and five-bedroomed homes other than that is what developers seek to do. One can imagine that four or five-bedroomed homes produce a lot of wastewater: let us call it sewage, for the avoidance of doubt. We are asking water companies to connect major new developments to antiquated piping: some of it is Edwardian and most of it is Victorian, but it needs to be...
Munira Wilson: ...after a recent dip, he found himself hospitalised with cellulitis for 13 days. His doctors think this was caused by polluted water. What caused that polluted water? Well, Thames Water dumped filthy sewage nearby just days earlier. Will the Prime Minister tell Nick and everybody else: why does he think that it is okay for water companies to keep polluting our rivers for another 25 years?
Rushanara Ali: ...education and training are provided to half a million children in that country. We need to allow for proper utilities to be provided, including clean water, electricity, lighting, and drains and sewage, or the situation will just continue to get worse. Action and support are required to make sure that criminal gangs do not prey on the most vulnerable people in the world, which is what is...
Kerry McCarthy: ...about rainforests, because we can see them—they are not hidden under water—but seagrass is just as, if not more, important, and I will come on to say why. Boats anchoring, fishing activity and sewage are all damaging seagrass. One problem is that boat users do not actually know where the seagrass beds are, which is another point I will come on to. We think that 98% of carbon stored in...
Mark Drakeford: Well, Dirprwy Lywydd, of course the Member is right in her simple factual point about the way Conservative MPs voted on this issue. If sewage dumping were to be made illegal, then the question would arise as to what happens when storm overflows inevitably cause pressure on the system. And while I'm completely with the Member in wanting to see all of that addressed seriously and quickly, it is...
Penny Mordaunt: ...awareness. What happened was that Labour, together with the Liberal Democrats and the Green party, passed up the chance to vote for or against a motion this week that would set targets for reducing sewage discharges and financially penalise companies that do not honour their duties. Only the Conservatives voted for that, and only the Conservatives have done something about it—and ditto...
Alex Cole-Hamilton: I am very grateful for that reply. It is enough to fill 19,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools—that is how much sewage we know was dumped into our rivers last year by Scotland’s Government-owned water company. I say “know” because only one in 20 discharge pipes is actually monitored. In addition, new Liberal Democrat research that we are publishing today reveals more than 400 sewage...
