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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to support local authorities to install drinking water fountains across the UK to reduce the number of single-use plastics being consumed.

The Government is committed to reducing the environmental damage caused by single use plastics by widening availability of drinking water facilities in our communities. The Government’s 25 year environment strategy 'A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment' has committed to supporting water companies, high street retailers, coffee shops and transport hubs to offer new refill points for people to top-up water bottles for free in every major city and town in England.

The water industry is a key partner in delivering our commitment to create a nationwide network of refill points. Through the Refill campaign a free app is now available to the public which signposts to over 20,000 free refill points and is estimated to save over 100 million single use bottles from entering our waste stream by the end of 2019. The Government will continue to reduce single-use plastic by working with local authorities and encouraging partnerships with water companies and businesses to widen the availability of drinking fountains and refill sites across our communities.