The number of times sewage is discharged by water companies will be halved by 2030, the environment secretary has pledged.

Steve Reed’s vow marks the first time ministers have set a clear target on the issue, following public outcry over the pollution incidents.

It comes after data published by the Environment Agency on Friday showed serious pollution incidents by water companies in England rose by 60% in 2024 to the highest number on record.

Reed said families had “watched their local rivers, coastlines and lakes suffer from record levels of pollution” – but the Conservatives said Labour had “done nothing to stop water bill rises” despite “big promises” to reform the system.

The pledge forms part of wider government plans to improve the water sector, ahead of a landmark Water Commission review of the industry due to be published on Monday.

James Wallace, chief executive of charity River Action UK, said the target seemed “admirable” but that ultimately it was a “political pledge”.

He told BBC Breakfast: “It’s not actually legally binding.

“It’s incumbent on water companies to fulfil their part of the bargain, but what about the government – how are they going to be held to account?”

The plans announced on Sunday will also include a commitment to work with devolved governments across the UK to ban wet wipes containing plastic, among other measures.

Reed is also expected to confirm aims to cut phosphorus pollution from treated wastewater – which causes algae blooms that are harmful to wildlife – in half by 2028, compared to 2024 levels.

There has been widespread scrutiny of water companies over the increasing number of sewage discharges into UK waterways amid rising bills – all while the firms have paid out millions to executives and shareholders.

The Environment Agency said water companies recorded 2,801 pollution incidents in 2024, up from 2,174 in 2023.

Of those, 75 were considered to pose “serious or persistent” harm to fisheries, drinking water and human health – up from 47 last year.

At the same time, water bosses in England were paid £7.6m in bonuses, according to the government. In June, it barred them from being paid out at six firms that had fallen foul of environmental and consumer standards.

The Water Commission’s chair will lay out his recommendations on how to improve the environmental and financial performance of the sector. The government will respond in Parliament.

Several UK media outlets reported on Friday that the report would suggest scrapping the regulator, Ofwat, altogether. A government spokesperson said it would not comment on speculation.

England has a combined sewage system, which means both rainfall and sewage are processed through the same system. Last year, rainfall levels were up, which could have overwhelmed some water company infrastructure.

However, despite variations in rainfall, discharges that result in serious pollution are a breach of their permits and legal obligations.

Many incidents are reported to the Environment Agency by the companies themselves, but of 4,000 inspections carried out last year by the regulator, nearly a quarter of sites were in breach of their permits.

A record £104bn is due to be invested into the water sector over the next five years to improve its infrastructure.

As a result, consumer bills are expected to rise on average by £123 annually – though for Southern Water customers this could be as much as £224.

The Environment Agency has also received £189m to support hundreds of enforcement offices to inspect and prosecute water companies, with the fines retroactively paying for this.

Conservative shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins said the government “must be transparent about where the £104bn investment is coming from as some will come through customer bill rises”.

She said plans “must also include credible proposals to improve the water system’s resilience to droughts, without placing an additional burden on bill payers and taxpayers”.

The grieving sister of a schoolboy stabbed to death in his own house in a mistaken identity hit has told a fugitive wanted in connected with his murder to “stop looking over his shoulder” and hand himself in.

It is 15 years since 17-year-old Aamir Siddiqi was attacked in front of his parents and two hitmen were convicted of his murder – but the man suspected of ordering the killing is still on the run.

Mohammed Ali Ege is one of Europe’s most wanted men and Aamir’s sister has appealed to him, telling him he’s “not free” and always “worried about slipping up”.

“He’s got a family, he’s got a mum and none of them are seeing him this is not living,” said Nishat Siddiqi.

Her younger brother Aamir thought he was opening the door to a teacher when he was stabbed to death in a frenzied drug-fuelled attack by contract killers Jason Richards and Ben Hope.

The two heroin addicts were paid £1,000 to kill an innocent businessman and father-of-four who lived in a neighbouring street in Cardiff in an act of revenge over a property deal that turned sour.

But, in what the prosecution described as “staggering incompetence”, Richards and Hope went to the wrong house in the Roath area of the Welsh capital.

The bright, ambitious student, who wanted to read law at Cardiff University, had turned down a game of football with his mates and was revising for his A-level exams upstairs at his home when the doorbell rang.

Aamir innocently answered his door expecting to see his local imam for a Koran lesson but was confronted by two balaclava-clad knifemen fuelled up on heroin who pushed their way in and stabbed him to death before he could say a word.

Richards and Hope were sentenced to life and ordered to serve a minimum of 40 years each in jail for killing Aamir in April 2010, but the man who detectives suspect ordered the contract killing fled the country.

Ege, suspected of conspiracy to commit murder, was arrested in India in 2011.

But after a six-year extradition process, he went back on the run by escaping through a railway station toilet window and now eight years later is believed to be in the Middle East.

“He’s not truly free,” Nishat told the BBC Sounds podcast Making Of A Fugitive.

“He’s on the run, always looking over his shoulder, always worried about whether or not he’s going to slip up.”

South Wales Police have previously offered a £10,000 reward for any information that may lead to the arrest of the fugitive known as Wales’ most wanted man.

“If you’re innocent, you’ve got nothing to fear and you should come back home to clear your name,” added consultant cardiologist Nishat, 48.

“You might think you’re free because you escaped from police custody and have been on the run for years, but you’ve condemned yourself to a life of exile on the run, far from home.”

Nishat, who is 16 years older than Aamir, also hopes her appeal on Making Of A Fugitive may urge someone to shop Ege to the authorities.

“Somebody somewhere might listen,” she said.

“If they know something and if they feel in their heart of hearts that they really ought to speak up then maybe this might inspire them to do just that.

“As a family we have suffered the kind of grief, shock and horror that never really leaves you. And in a weird way he’s living that with us because he’s not truly free.”

Nishat still keeps her younger brother’s wallet, reads his social media posts and keeps in touch with his old friends, like best mate Saeed Kidwai.

On the day he was murdered, Saeed had asked Aamir to play five-a-side football but he chose to stay home to study for his A-level exams later that summer.

“I remember the match finished at 1:40pm and I later found out he passed away at 1:40pm,” he remembered.

It’s one of the sliding door “what if” moments that haunt Aamir’s family and friends.

It was the end of the school term and Saeed recalled: “Just before he left he went around to a lot of the boys and he was like ‘oh boys let me take a selfie with you because that’ll be the last time I see you probably before I go to university’.”

Saeed did not have a picture, adding: “I was like ‘I’ll see you on the weekend or something’.

“I never thought in like a million years that would be the last time I’d see him,” he said.

“I feel I’ve had a whole chapter of my life, graduating and getting married but my wife has never met him, my son will never meet him. How do I keep that memory alive?”

Saeed took his baby son to meet Aamir’s parents Iqbal and Parveen, who were also injured in the attack.

“His mum was so affectionate and loving and his dad just held him for ages and it was really emotional for me to see,” recalled Saeed.

“I thought this doesn’t feel real. I still feel like I’m 17 or 18 in my heart and I’m still waiting for him to pop around the corner,” he said.

“His number is still the first number I have in my phone book, because it’s two A’s in his first name. I still can’t delete it.

Aamir’s family love seeing his old friends grow into adults with families of their own and careers.

“It’s so wonderful to see,” said Nishat. “It also makes me so feel so sad because that should have been my brother as well.”

Aamir’s family found it hard to remain living in the same house after his death and they’ve since left Cardiff.

“We kept his clothes in his cupboard, his toys, everything for months on end,” said Nishat.

“We even put on one of his jumpers because it smelt of him.

“There’s a photograph of Aamir when he was enjoying his second birthday party, drinking some squash, and he’s standing at the exact spot where he died.

“That’s probably why we found it hard to live in the house again because the house was full of very happy memories.”

South Wales Police praised the dignity of Aamir’s family throughout such a traumatic ordeal and said they remain committed to tracing and arresting Ege.

“We would ask anyone who has information about his whereabouts to please get in touch – for Aamir’s family,” the police statement added.

If any of the issues in this copy have affected you, details of help and advice are available on the BBC Action Line website.