The Environment Agency (EA) regularly tracks water company performance and was concerned that sufficient improvements were not being made to meet our targets prior to this year\u2019s poor results.<\/p>
<\/p>
In response to these results, the EA is taking action and there will be:<\/p>
<\/p>
An increased number of audits and inspections.<\/p><\/li>
Requests for companies to produce root cause analysis reports for serious pollution incidents in order to learn from them.<\/p><\/li>
Requests for each company to produce a pollution reduction plan signed off at Chief Executive Office (CEO) level which they will be accountable for.<\/p><\/li>
Requests for the companies to share good practice proactively as an industry wide response to the problems we are facing.<\/p><\/li><\/ul>
<\/p>
<\/p>
In addition, in July 2019, the EA has set up a new \u2018Improving Water Company Performance\u2019 programme which will tighten regulation to encourage water companies to meet their environmental targets. It is extensive and we anticipate it will take some time to deliver fully.<\/p>
<\/p>
The programme will include:<\/p>
<\/p>
Enhancing the EA\u2019s regulatory tools, including more and better quality inspections, audits and greater use of technology to remotely monitor operations 24 hours a day, seven days a week.<\/p><\/li>
Maximising the use of enforcement and sanctions powers to ensure they act as a powerful deterrent.<\/p><\/li>
Updating the Environmental Performance Assessment for the 2021-2025 period to include a broader range of measures with tightened standards where appropriate.<\/p><\/li>
Working with Ofwat to develop greater links between environmental performance and financial penalties and incentives.<\/p><\/li>
Improving our regulation of sewage sludge treatment and disposal to ensure it is sufficiently robust to protect against emerging risks such as chemicals, antimicrobial resistance and micro-plastics.<\/p><\/li><\/ul>
<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4161", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Gardiner of Kimble"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-07-24", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-07-24T11:50:45.843Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "13"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-07-10", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Water Companies: Pollution Control"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that water companies meet targets set by the Environment Agency to reduce pollution by 2020.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1796", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Taylor of Warwick"} ], "uin" : "HL17098"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1137961", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1137961/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The World Trade Organisation\u2019s (WTO\u2019s) rules covering agricultural subsidies are set out in the Agreement on Agriculture. A final assessment against these rules can only be made once a subsidy scheme has been designed in detail.<\/p>
However, at the 10th<\/sup> WTO Ministerial Conference in 2015 a decision was taken to fully eliminate any form of agricultural export subsidy as part of the \u2018Nairobi Package\u2019. This prevents the UK from putting in place measures such as: direct payments related to export performance; buying up non-commercial stocks of agricultural products and selling them overseas at less than domestic market value; or subsidising domestic or international transport costs for exported goods.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4161", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Gardiner of Kimble"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-07-23", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-07-23T15:25:44.743Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "13"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-07-09", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Meat: Exports"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether giving subsidies to farmers in the UK in the event of a no-deal Brexit to assist them with the export of (1) lamb, and (2) beef, to the EU would be in breach of World Trade Organization rules.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/2478", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Rogan"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Rogan"} ], "uin" : "HL17060"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 2, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }