§ Mr. SpellerTo ask the Prime Minister if she will make it her policy to take personal control of the co-ordination work to stop the dumping of raw sewage into the English Channel and to work towards these beaches attaining the standards of the EC bathing water directive 76/160/EEC.
§ The Prime MinisterThe discharge of raw sewage through short sea outfalls is an unsatisfactory legacy from the past; and a substantial programme of improving the sewerage systems of coastal towns is under way. Replacement systems of whatever type are designed to bring identified bathing waters up to the standards set in the EC bathing water directive 76/160/EEC. Long sea outfalls, which discharge some 2 km to sea, are a safe and effective means for the disposal of screened sewage. Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution grants discharge consents for long sea outfall schemes only when they enable bathing waters in the vicinity to meet the requirements of the EC directive standards and where they are designed to take full account of local conditions. Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution will continue to seek environmentally sound solutions for each location on the basis of the best available scientific evidence.