Simon Jupp MP asked what the government was doing to reduce sewage discharges in East Devon in the House of Commons on Thursday (23 February).

It comes after a protest was held outside his constituency office in Exmouth in January. 

Raw sewage was discharged from storm overflows off Exmouth beach and at the mouth of the River Sid for over 1,000 hours each in 2021, according to Environment Agency data.

Therese Coffey MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, assured the Conservative MP for East Devon that the government was holding South West Water and other water companies to account.

Mr Jupp said: "The Conservative party and government... are holding failing water companies to account, including the one-star rated South West Water, which was fined £13 million last year, and rightly so.

"Does my right hon. friend agree that South West Water must clean up its act and our water?"

Map showing storm overflow location at Exmouth beach (Apple Maps)

Therese Coffey replied: "South West Water continues to be a poor performing company, which is unacceptable.

"That is why I called in the worst-performing water companies at the end of last year, including the chief executive of South West Water.

"Those companies must take urgent steps to significantly reduce their pollution incidents, and we will ensure that they continue to be held to account.

"That is why I have asked water companies to provide individual reduction plans for each of the combined sewer overflows."

A South West Water spokesperson said: "Over the last two years, we have delivered significant improvements across a range of performance indicators, including reducing pollutions to the lowest number in over 10 years and achieving 100% bathing water quality for the second consecutive year. With over 80% of our ODI commitments on track, our performance puts us in the upper quartile for the sector. Our underlying performance continues to improve, but there's always more to do. 

"Protecting the region's natural environment through improved environmental performance remains a core focus for South West Water. We are delivering record levels of investment in the environment, with our largest environmental investment programme for over 15 years of £1.4 billion well underway. This includes investing over £330 million in our region's wastewater network to dramatically reduce the use of storm overflows by 2025, reduce our impact on river quality by a third, and maintain the South West's excellent bathing water quality standards all year round. In April 2022, we launched WaterFit, the next stage in our environmental strategy, to go further and faster in delivering on these objectives. 

"We know there is more to do, particularly in improving river water quality, reducing the use of storm overflows, and reducing pollutions. That's why we are investing further and faster than ever before to deliver major improvements in the region's water resources and wastewater infrastructure for the future. We will continue to work closely and liaise with our regulators and Defra."