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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to increase the number of sites with designated bathing water status.

Bathing waters are designated through an application process and Defra welcomes applications for designation for both coastal and inland waters such as rivers. Local authorities, groups and individuals can apply for sites to be designated. Defra encourages this by writing to the Chief Executive of every local authority in England and other key stakeholders such as swimming associations. It is these local authorities and stakeholders who will best know which popular bathing areas may be suitable for designation. My department provides guidance to assist those in making an application for a new bathing water designation. As part of the review of bathing waters policy in England, we plan to produce revised guidance this year to make it easier for applicants to understand the criteria for bathing water status and ensure only necessary information is requested.

For further information, please visit our web page on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/bathing-waters