My ministerial colleagues and I have made it clear to water companies that the current number of sewage discharges is unacceptable. I would like to assure you that tackling storm overflows is a priority and the Government is committed to taking action to protect public health and the environment from storm overflow discharges.
The Government has published the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan, which will require water companies to deliver their largest ever environmental infrastructure investment - £56 billion capital investment over 25 years - into a long-term programme to tackle storm sewage discharges by 2050.
Water companies will have to achieve a number of targets so that discharges only happen when there is unusually heavy rain and when there is no immediate adverse impact to the local environment. The targets will mean that water companies need to take measures such as increasing the capacity of their networks and treating sewage before it is discharged to protect public health and prevent pollution, while massively reducing all discharges. Failure to meet these targets could see them face substantial fines or having to return money to customers.
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