With the summer months comes a renewed sense of concern for many of the scourge of storm-overflow systems allowing the dangerous release of raw sewage into our waterways and, as such, into our highly acclaimed bathing water here in Worthing and Arun.
A sense of proportion and chronology is necessary in understanding how longstanding an issue this has been and why, in recent years under increased attention and scrutiny as well as vastly improved mechanisms to monitor overflow, it appears to have gotten worse.
Sewage has been released into our waterways since they were first installed. This is due to the antiquated and ineffective nature of Victorian sewage systems that governments and water boards have failed to modernise time and time again. This must stop and I have made this clear in the Commons over recent years.
My work on this has gone on enduringly throughout the year, not just when it is a present and visible concern. Recent meetings with Southern Water, Ministers and regulators to further the case for urgent investment have taken place to address our failing sewage systems.
I am in the process of arranging a visit to water treatment plants and the Southern Water monitoring centre, as well as meeting with the head of the Clean Rivers and Seas Task Force.
In recent days I have spoken with the head of Surfers Against Sewage to discuss the need for a cooperative approach to addressing sewage overflow. Although I have long been a strong supporter of Surfers Against Sewage and our shared campaign to stop the release of sewage into our waters. However, good cooperation means acknowledging mistakes and problems.
I raised a serious concern with a specific piece of incorrect information which continued to be provided on their application regarding a local water outlet. Incorrect information on the Surfers Against Sewage website unfortunately led to local constituents being further concerned about the release of raw sewage at Worthing Beach from a surface runoff outlet, when this was not the case. The accuracy of this data is important to inform us of the true extent of sewage spillages.
Below are two important letters in response to ongoing concerns shared by my office and me.
The first is from Southern Water in relation to constituent concerns and our request for a clear action plan for immediate improvement of the situation.
The second is a letter from the Minister for Environmental Quality and Resilience regarding the Government's plans to strengthen environmental civil sanctions.
Constituents can have confidence that I remain active in support of safer and cleaner bathing waters, better cared-for marine environments and sensible, urgent action to address our failing Victorian sewage systems.
Let us continue to work cooperatively and constructively to address this serious issue.
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Dear Sir Peter,
Thank you for your email regarding the concerns of your constituents about the use of storm overflows in Worthing. We completely understand the concern of your constituents about this. We’re committed to improving our environmental performance and agree that the current use of storm overflows is unacceptable. Reducing their use is a key priority for us, which is why we’re investing £2 billion between 2020 and 2025 to significantly improve our existing infrastructure.
Storm overflows are part of the historical water network’s design – a release valve which protects homes, businesses and roads from flooding when the network capacity is exceeded due to rainwater or groundwater infiltration. Since privatisation, Southern Water has invested more than £10 billion to upgrade our infrastructure. This means we have significantly increased the volume of wastewater that is fully treated before release from 50% to 95%. We are now going further, and our goal is to tackle the last 5% of wastewater.
If we just blocked up storm overflows immediately without building in other places for excess water to be captured, the system would be over-run and it would lead to flooding and pollution in people’s homes. Unfortunately, there is not a single, simple fix but we are determined to tackle this and we have been investing significant resources, working with our communities and environmental groups on a plan of action.
This is being led by our Clean Rivers and Seas Task Force which has been trialling new innovative solutions and building new partnerships in communities to help manage surface water runoff and slow the flow of water in towns and cities.
We know that releases from storm overflows can be concerning and this is a complicated issue, so we have put together information on storm overflows on our website at Storm Overflows (southernwater.co.uk). Our Beachbuoy information page also displays near-real-time data on storm overflows. You and your constituents can view whether there have been any recent releases in Worthing, and Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) uses the same data to populate its app.
You may have seen that the Worthing Climate Resilience Centre conducted a protest on 26th June, near an outfall on Worthing Beach. The prolonged release cited by the group (25th June, 6 days) was caused by an error - computer code became corrupted after being transferred between Southern Water, The Environment Agency and Surfers Against Sewage’s Safer Seas and Rivers app. Surfers Against Sewage have acknowledged this problem and we collaborated with them to quickly rectify the error. They have assured us that they have taken steps to prevent this re-occurring.
The outfall that was the backdrop to the protest is not a storm overflow – it is used to channel surface water to prevent flooding and is not connected to the foul water system. Better surface water management, especially in the face of urbanisation and climate change, is a core principle of our work to tackle storm overflow releases.
We have submitted our comprehensive proposals to reduce storm overflows across our region to the Secretary of State. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss our proposals – and what this means for coastal waters in Worthing - with you.
With best wishes,
Head of Public Affairs and Advocacy
Southern Water
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Dear colleague,
Strengthening environmental civil sanctions
I’m pleased to confirm that the Government has today laid legislation before Parliament to strengthen environmental civil sanctions and provide the environmental regulators with the tools they need to hold operators to account.
Currently, the maximum variable monetary penalty that can be imposed for a wide range of environmental offences is capped at £250,000. This is not an effective deterrent for very large operators, such as water companies, as it may be cheaper for them to pay the penalty, or several penalties, than to solve the underlying issue. We are therefore removing the cap entirely to make the penalty unlimited, meaning that penalties can be proportionate to the degree of environmental harm and culpability and can act as a powerful deterrent. Strong safeguards are in place, including the ability of an offender to pay, when regulators determine the size of penalties. The Environment Agency will use the independent Sentencing Council guidelines to underpin all penalties.
We are also introducing unlimited variable monetary penalties as a civil sanction for offences under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, so in future the Environment Agency has all the tools it needs to change the behaviour of organisations who break the law.
We know that people across the country want to see more progress in tackling pollution and if operators breach regulations, our environmental regulators need the right powers to impose penalties. These new penalty changes will deter organisations from polluting and increase their incentive to comply with environmental regulations. We will not let companies get away with illegal activity and where breaches are found, we will hold companies to account. Furthermore, all funding from fines and penalties handed out to water companies that pollute our rivers and seas will be invested in schemes that benefit our natural environment.
This legislation follows our recent consultation, first announced in the Plan for Water, which received overwhelming support from the public.
In particular, these changes are one element of a broader set of reforms which collectively will improve the water environment. Earlier this year, we published the Plan for Water, which marks a step change in how we manage our waters, for water quality and water resources. It is a blueprint for a truly national effort to meet the stretching targets we have set under the Environment Act and the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan.
Recent government action includes plans to enshrine the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan further in law through a new statutory target, a requirement for all water companies to provide an action plan for every storm overflow in the country, and new powers for Ofwat that will enable it to take enforcement action against water companies that do not link dividend payments to performance for both customers and the environment.
There should be no doubt that this Government has and will continue to tackle illegal activity which harms our natural environment.
If you would like to discuss this topic further, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours sincerely,
REBECCA POW MP
