Environment
Are water companies and government meeting their environmental obligations?
Water companies discharge sewage into rivers and seas through storm overflows, and the Environment Agency publishes exactly how long each one spilled. Net zero and clean power are also live dividing lines between the parties.
What this means
The headline figure
291,492 spillsof untreated sewage from storm overflows in England in 2025Environment Agency Storm Overflow (EDM) Annual Returns ↗as of 31 Dec 202535% fewer than 2024's record; total monitored spill duration fell 48%. Per-company, per-site data on the Sewage page.
The Environment Agency's Event Duration Monitoring recorded 291,492 storm-overflow spills in 2025 — 35% fewer than 2024's record, with total monitored spill duration down 48%. Even so, each overflow operated on average 20.5 times (down from 31.8); the Government's target is fewer than 10. Site-level data is on the Sewage page.
Party pledges
What parties promised — and delivered
In the news
What the media is saying about environment
Go deeper
Related data
Take action:✉ Write to your MP
Source: Parliament APIs · Electoral Commission · NHS England · Environment Agency · RSS news feeds
Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 · Editorial (party assessments)