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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to introduce a personal water consumption target for consumers based on (a) the amount abstracted for supply or (b) per capita consumption.

Protecting our water resources is a priority for this Government, which is why we have proposed setting a statutory target on overall demand for public water supply in our Environment Bill. This could encompass household use, non-household use and leakage.

As the 2017 Abstraction plan is currently being refreshed, we do not think it is appropriate to set a target on wider abstraction. Water companies are already making changes (both voluntary and at the request of the Environment Agency) to their abstraction licences in order to benefit the environment.

The 2019 Water conservation: measures to reduce personal water use consultation, is expected to be published this Spring. The consultation included a call for evidence on setting an ambitious target for personal water consumption, known as per capita consumption (PCC). We sought views on the policy options required to support a personal water consumption target. This included the labelling of water-using products, and the future role of metering.