I was given 90 seconds to speak in a debate about water companies discharging untreated sewage into our seas and rivers. The video is my contribution, however, below I have posted the information I was unable to include in Westminster Hall due to time restrictions.

I would like to make three points.

Outline the extent of the problem.

The impact locally.

And, the systemic flaw in our water and sewage sector.

From the sewage event monitoring data for 2021, available on The Rivers Trust website, there were 5115 hours of sewage discharge in my constituency alone.

That is the equivalent of 213 days.

To put this in perspective.

If Northumbrian Water started dumping waste on 1st January, it would take until 2 August before they would stop in East Durham.

When sewage dumping occurs for 213 days out of 365 days, it is not rare or exceptional circumstances, but a frequent and persistent problem.

I represent the only coastline in County Durham.

We are home to a thriving wild swimming community. Seaham Seaside Cold Water Swimmers is a local network of over 4,000 people, passionate about health and wellbeing.

They not only participate in wild swimming, they also care about their local environment through regular coastline litter picks.

Cold Water Swimming has multiple community, social and health benefits, but all those participating in this activity will be aware of the Safe Seas and Rivers Service App.

Last year, from the three Combined Sewage Overflows in my constituency, there were 119 pollution alerts, warning people not to use our coastal bathing waters.

Our coastline was once a dumping ground for coal spoil and industrial waste.

Used as a backdrop as a depressing industrial landscape in the final scenes of 1971’s film, Get Carter, or a dystopian planet in 1992’s Alien 3 film.

However, in the late 90’s, the Turning the Tide scheme, cleared the industrial waste, and we developed the East Durham Heritage Coastline.

The coastline is home to nature reserves, wildlife, a stretch of the England coastpath, we have sand dunes, rock caves, and an abundance of sea glass.

The grit, grime and industrial past has gone, replaced by a peaceful and beautiful coastline, supporting a fledging tourist sector that welcomed 2.6 million visitors last year, who spent over £120 million pounds in the local economy and supported 1383 full time jobs.

Our coastline is home to 14% of all tourism jobs, and attracts 16% of all visitors in County Durham.

We simply cannot afford to replace one type of industrial waste with another.

The dumping of sewage in our coastal waters must stop.

Finally, I want to mention our flawed water system.

As a consumer, I am outraged that my water company is polluting my community, threatening our local economy, and undermining employment.

If this was any other ‘privatised’ industry, in a free market, I would have a choice of switching suppliers, and hitting these companies in the only place they care about, their profit line.

However, unlike any other service and utility, I am trapped.

Where are the Conservative Party principles of free markets and competition in water?

Our only protection from this private sector monopoly is the government, and regulators.

However, we are here today because of governmental and regulatory failure, and a decades long failure of oversight and scrutiny into the water industry, who have extracted immense profits at the expense of public health and the environment.

I am not a Conservative.

I do not believe in the artificial model of privatisation that exists in water.

Water is the most vital of utilities, it is too important to fail.

It requires the utmost attention, control and long-term investment, which is only possible through public ownership.

At the end of the day, no Government, red, blue or yellow, cannot permit market failure in water.

These companies make short term decisions to maximise shareholder profit, knowing that if they collapse, the Government will always bail them out.

A competitive free market must have space for businesses to fail as well as succeed. This is simply not possible with water.

When it comes to water, there is more at stake than pure profit.

The people we represent are being failed by this house, and by every government that permits private water monopolies to tax us.

A water bill is a tax.

It is a charge you must pay, to a single authority, for which you have no option but to comply.

At least in energy and public transport we maintain a façade of competition, but not in water, and as a consequence, we allow private companies to pollute our environment without recourse.

In conclusion, the Government will continue to permit the polluting of our waterways, and have kicked this matter in the long grass by setting targets for 2035 and 2050.

Some of us here today will not see clean, unpolluted waters within our life time.

That is a sad indictment of the so called power of the private market to protect consumer interests.

And we will suffer the consequences, our water will remain a public health hazard, it will remain a drag on economic development, especially for coastal communities like mine seeking to create and strengthen a tourism industry and inward investment.

And sadly, I am yet to see any leadership take control of this matter, and set out clearly that there is an active role for government and the public sector to take control of this industry, deliver the investment required, and guarantee that UK water is clean and safe from tap to sea.