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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to improve the water quality of open water in Ashfield constituency.

The Environment Agency will publish updated water body classifications later this year (https://environment.data.gov.uk/catchment-planning/England/classifications). This will provide a measure of the health of the water environment, focusing on the effects of pollution from sources like sewage, industry, and farming.

These classifications guide regulatory decisions and drive investment, such as the £22.1bn that water companies across England will spend on infrastructure, and environmental improvements between 2025-2030.

In Ashfield, by 2030, Severn Trent will deliver 46 new environmental actions on top of the 20 actions completed between 2020–2025. These actions can include small developments in a sewage treatment works, stopping sewage overflows, through to large interventions such as complete changes to sewage treatment.