The petition of the residents of the United Kingdom
Declares that residents are prevented from safely swimming in the sea and enjoying the beach environment, around Bexhill and Hastings, due to recent and ongoing sewage spillages from Southern Water after heavy rain; further notes that these spillages create a risk to human health; notes that the under the Government’s Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction plan water companies will have to improve all storm overflows spilling into or near every designated bathing water and improve 75% of overflows spilling into high priority nature sites by 2035.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to bring forward overflow spilling targets from the Government’s Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction Plan and take further action to stop the spillages happening by the summer of 2023.
And the petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Sally-Ann Hart, Official Report, 28 March 2023, Vol. 730, c. 9P.]
[P002821]
Observations from the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Dr Thérèse Coffey):
The Government would like to thank the petitioners for raising the important issue of sewage spills in Bexhill and Hastings.
The Environment Agency monitors bathing waters from May until September. Bathing waters are monitored for sources of pollution known to be a risk to bathers’ health, with up to 20 samples taken from each site during the bathing season. Each sample is tested for bacteria, specifically E. coli and intestinal enterococci.
The 2022 bathing water classifications for the bathing waters in the Hastings and Bexhill area are:
Name 2022 Classification Hastings Pelham Beach Good—Generally good water quality St Leonards Excellent—The highest, cleanest class Bexhill Sufficient—The water meets minimums standards
Knowing more about water quality helps people make informed decisions on when and where to swim. The Swimfo website provides detailed information on each of the 400-plus bathing waters in England, and for a certain number of bathing waters—including those in the Hastings and Bexhill area—bathers are notified when pollution risk warnings have been issued, where water quality may be temporarily reduced due to factors such as heavy rainfall, wind or the tide. When a temporary reduction in water quality is forecast, the Environment Agency issues a pollution risk warning and advises against bathing.
Both Hastings Pelham Beach and Bexhill are priority bathing waters—those with declining or reduced Bathing Water Quality. For both bathing waters, the Environment Agency is working with partners, including the local authority and Southern Water, to robustly investigate the reasons for any decline in bathing water quality and to remove and reduce sources of pollution to ensure the bathing water and coastal community continues to thrive.
Improving water quality is a top priority for the Government. In March, we published our “Plan for Water”, a blueprint for a truly national effort to meet the stretching targets that we have set through our Environment Act 2021.
The Government have been clear that the volume of sewage discharged by water companies is unacceptable. Our 2022 storm overflows discharge reduction plan set strict targets that will see the toughest ever crackdown on sewage spills and will require water companies to deliver the largest infrastructure programme in water company history—£56 billion capital investment over 25 years. Our plan will protect biodiversity, the ecology of our rivers and seas, and the public health of our water users for future generations. Overflows that are causing the most harm will be addressed first to make the biggest difference as quickly as possible.
Storm overflows are strictly permitted by the Environment Agency. If overflows operate outside of permit conditions, the agency will not hesitate to use all options for robust enforcement action. This can include criminal prosecution by the agency, for which there can be unlimited fines.
In February 2023, water and sewerage companies were asked to set an action plan on every storm overflow in England, prioritising higher spilling sites, and those spilling into bathing waters and high priority nature sites. We have also announced that water companies will face higher penalties that are quicker and easier to enforce.
On 25 April, we announced a legally binding target to crack down on sewage spills from storm overflows.
There should be no doubt about this Government’s ambition and determination to reduce storm overflow use.