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<p>HM Government is prioritising action to improve water quality, including action
to address storm overflows. Water companies are investing £3.1 billion to improve
storm overflows between 2020 and 2025, and we continue to work with them to accelerate
progress wherever possible.</p><p> </p><p>The targets in the storm overflows discharge
reduction plan are ambitious, and time bound, allowing for the water industry to deliver
traditional solutions and bring forward innovative nature-based solutions where appropriate.
We want the best solutions with the most benefits to our environment, communities
and climate to be taken forward, and these will require careful planning by the industry:
HM Government must consider the capacity of the supply chains to deliver in line with
our targets and timelines, and the disruption that constructing new infrastructure
brings to society as well as our environmental ambitions.</p><p> </p><p>HM Government
is committing to review the targets in the plan in 2027. This will occur ahead of
the 2029-2034 water company planning cycle (PR29) once new information, including
from companies’ business plans, is available. This will allow us to establish if companies
can go further and faster to achieve the storm overflow targets in this Plan without
having a disproportionate impact on consumers bills. This will also feed into broader
reporting mechanisms under the Environment Act 2021, such as through the Environmental
Improvement Plan, to monitor and assess how this and other actions are contributing
to the broader recovery of river and water habitats.</p>
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