§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many water discharge consents are currently in place; and what percentage of these were(a) reviewed and (b) contravened in 1997. [60870]
§ Mr. MeacherThe most recent figures available on discharge consents were reported in the Environment Agency's Annual Report and Accounts, and relate to the fiscal year 1997–98. There were 79,692 discharge consents in place at year end, including 4,267 which were issued during the year. A total of 4,093 discharge consents were reviewed—5.4 per cent. of the 75,425 in place at the beginning of the year.
As the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Wallasey (Angela Eagle) said in her answer to the hon. Member for Lewes (Mr. Baker), on 15 June 1998, Official Report, column 37, the number of discharges which exceeded their consented limits during the calendar year 1997 was 4,717.