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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of ensuring a nationwide presence of offices for the new water regulator in England.

Defra is working with stakeholders, including existing water regulators, on the strategic design of the new regulator to ensure it is able to support delivery of the Government’s vision set out in the Water White Paper. A range of options for its operating model are being considered. Decisions on the location and distribution of offices will be taken in due course.