Westminster Diary - 21st September 2006

Thursday, 21st September 2006

Not all political activity is glamorous. Take for example my involvement with the All Party Parliamentary Group for Sewers and Sewerage. It isn’t a pleasant subject and to some it may it may seem a bit of a joke. Unfortunately for those who have experienced it, sewer flooding is no laughing matter. What can make the situation worse is discovering that contrary to their expectations, the affected householder is responsible for the maintenance and repair of the flooded sewer.

A recent study found that 43% of households in this country are served by private sewers – that is sewers for which you and your neighbours are responsible, not the water company or the council. Many of my constituents are affected and the bills for repair and maintenance of these sewers can cause both financial anguish and discord between neighbours who are jointly responsible for their upkeep. There are approximately 108,000 reports of flooding from private sewers each year, and they mean about £115 million in repair and maintenance costs nationwide. In both Rugby and Kenilworth, flooding has been an issue.

So what can be done? The All Party Group of which I am a member is lobbying the government to accelerate the adoption of private sewers by the water companies, so that householders currently connected to private sewers do not have to worry about arranging the repairs in conjunction with their neighbours, as well as dealing with the mess. The cost to the water rate payer generally is unlikely to be prohibitive, so we will keep up the pressure on the government and the water companies to make it happen. I am sure that, glamorous or not, the many people affected who I represent would want me to do just that.

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Updated on Thursday, 21st September 2006