Environment Secretary Steve Barclay MP has announced today that over £180 million of investment will be fast-tracked over the next 12 months to prevent more than 8000 sewage spills polluting English waterways.
It follows the Secretary of State directing water and sewage companies last December to measurably reduce sewage spills over the next year by accelerating commitments and delivering new funding.
Steve Barclay wrote to water company Chief Executives in December calling on them to go “further and faster” to secure a measurable reduction in sewage spills in the next 12 months and asking them to respond with written plans by 19th December.
The Minister asked the water companies to make rapid progress in two key areas:
1. Accelerating maintenance work at sewer networks to tackle high spilling storm overflows
2. Interim solutions at high spilling overflows
Examples of measures include investment in AI systems to help manage storm loads, the installation of thousands of new in-sewer monitors to check flows and spot blockages early, the recruitment and training of specialist staff, and accelerated wetland construction programmes.
The new funding commitments are in addition to water companies’ existing £3.1 billion investment into storm overflow improvements for this price review period (2020-2025), as well as their ongoing annual investment to maintain the performance of the existing network.
The accelerated improvements, which will be delivered by April 2025, support the targets under the government’s Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan. This is driving the largest infrastructure investment in water company history, estimated at £60 billion over the next 25 years.
It also follows the recent ban on bonuses for water company executives where firms have committed serious criminal breaches, subject to Ofwat consultation, and the quadrupling of the Environment Agency’s regulatory capacity, enabling them to carry out 4,000 water company inspections by the end of the next financial year.
Environment Secretary Steve Barclay said:
“The amount of sewage being spilled into our rivers is completely unacceptable and the public rightly expects action. This £180 million of accelerated investment, which will stop more than 8,000 sewage spills over the next year, is a welcome step forward as we continue to push for better performance from water companies and hold them to account.
“This money will mean more cutting-edge technology, including artificial intelligence, and more specialist staff to detect and reduce spills.”
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