Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the procedures to monitor the presence of neonicotinoid pesticides in UK water in line with the European Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/495 of 20 March 2015 are; and if he will publish the results of that monitoring.

The Environment Agency monitors the presence of the five neonicotinoid pesticides listed in EU Decision 2015/495 (known as “the Watch List”) in English rivers. The respective agencies of the devolved administrations conduct monitoring in their areas.

Water samples are taken within rivers and other waterbodies at least once annually for the analysis of all of the substances. England has 14 sampling points and there are two for Scotland, and one each for Northern Ireland and Wales. The sampling locations ensure that a variety of different water quality pressures (agricultural, urban and industrial) are represented.

As required under the above decision the UK submits the monitoring data to the EU Commission for EU-wide analysis.

The first monitoring period was from September 2015 to December 2016. Pesticide levels measured in UK rivers in this period have been reported to the European Commission and are currently being reviewed. The second year of monitoring will conclude in December of this year.

Documents provided to the Water Framework Working Groups are all publicly available on the Commission’s CIRCA website, under Interest Group 'WFD CIRCA: "Implementing the Water Framework Directive”.