Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to reduce water (a) usage and (b) bills in his Department; and if he will make a statement.

The Department for Communities and Local Government has made significant reductions to both its water usage and associated bills.

Total water use has been reduced by 50% since 2009-10, and the number of its offices falling within good and best practice office water benchmarks has been increased from 28% to 73% during the same period.

These improvements have primarily been achieved by installing efficiency devices such as tap aerators, flow control valves, through leak reduction work, and by encouraging staff and facilities managers to adopt more water efficient behaviours.

In taking this action, the Department has reduced its annual water bill by £13,000 since 2009-10, and continues to work towards identifying even greater efficiencies.