Oral QuestionDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

What steps he is taking to help tackle water pollution on the Dorset coast.

Tabled: 28 August 2025Answered: 4 September 2025

Asked by

Tom Hayes

LabourBournemouth East

Answering Minister

the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Answer from Hansard

The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Steve Reed)

My hon. Friend showed me the scale of pollution on the Dorset coast and I share his determination to put a stop to it. This Government are fixing the broken sewage pipes that are responsible for this pollution, funded by £104 billion of private investment that we have helped to secure. Over the next five years, that will fund Wessex Water, in his area, to cut storm overflow spills by 43%—a major milestone towards cleaning up for good beautiful places in his constituency, which I had the pleasure of visiting with him, such as Bournemouth beach and Hengistbury.