Ben Maguire

Ben Maguire

Liberal Democrat — North Cornwall

Speaking in the House of Commons on 27 November 2024

Debate

Sewage Discharges: South West

Contribution

I do agree with my hon. Friend—I am starting to wonder whether hon. Members have seen my speech because I was coming on to that. How do we end this scandal? Despite the results of the parent company of South West Water, the Pennon Group, for 2023-24 showing that the group’s revenue had increased 10% to £908 million, largely thanks to higher customer bills, very little of that was spent on much-needed infrastructure upgrades. To add insult to injury, the company recently announced that South West Water bills will rise by a staggering 22% by the year 2030. A copy of Pennon Group’s five-year business plan to 2030 seemingly describes the state of our waterways in a parallel universe. On page 27, under the heading “Bathing water quality”, reference is made to “delivering improvements at bathing and shellfish waters across the region, to maintain our 100% bathing water performance.” A quick glance at the company’s own WaterFit sewage app shows there to be sewage dumping at multiple beaches across Cornwall and the south-west region today, and quite likely as I speak.

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