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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help improve the environmental condition of the River Gipping in Suffolk.

The Environment Agency, whilst taking account of the aspirations of other river users, works with partners to restore a more naturally functioning river which will support natural habitats and a rich biodiversity.

Using Defra’s Water Environment Improvement Fund, the Environment Agency has worked with Suffolk Wildlife Trust on several projects to enhance wildlife and the resilience of the river environment to the impacts of climate change. The Environment Agency has also funded Groundwork to deliver the Yellow Fish Project (http://oilcare.org.uk/avoid-pollution/yellow-fish) which focused on pollution prevention messages to the community, businesses and schools in the towns of Needham Market and Stowmarket in 2019/20. A further Yellow fish project is currently running in Ipswich in 2023-4 including on the lower River Gipping funded by the Environment Agency.

The Environment Agency continues to hold water companies to account to reduce pollution, tackle storm overflows and invest more into the environment; work with farmers to support environmentally friendly farming that doesn’t damage water quality; respond to environmental incidents to stop and reverse damage to our rivers as well as prosecute the most serious polluters. As well as the protection of water quality, the Environment Agency has a permitting and regulatory system that protects water quantity. Additionally the Environment Agency has a regulatory role to ensure that physical modification does not reduce the ecological and biological value of the river. This could include things such as the removal of bankside trees and vegetation.