The government has published its Plan for Water, which it says highlights “more investment, stronger regulation and tougher enforcement on water companies”

But the issue of storm overflows continues to dominate, as the Environment Agency published sewage spill data for 2022, showing a 19% reduction in the number of sewage spills, largely due to last year’s below average rainfall. The data also shows that in 2022:

• The average number of spills per storm overflow was 23, compared to 29 in 2021;
• 3% of storm overflows spilled more than 100 times, compared to 5% in 2021; and
• 18% of storm overflows did not spill at all, compared to 13% in 2021.

The release of the data has led to some uncomfortable headlines for Ministers and the water industry, including

• Thérèse Coffey accused of ‘throwing in the towel’ over sewage scandal
• Kier Starmer accusing the government of ‘turning Britain’s waterways into an open sewer’
• The new figures reveal that sewage was released at beaches for 8,500 hours last year