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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to engage with local communities impacted by drought.

The Environment Agency (EA) has been working to ensure that United Utilities follows its drought plan, as agreed by Defra Secretary of State, including its communications with the public / customers and ensuring the company engaged with local partners via Local Resilience Forums.

The EA has contacted all the MPs in Cumbria and Lancashire on two occasions. The first on 13 May 2025 gave an initial update about the prolonged dry weather and MPs were advised on the actions the EA were taking. The EA updated MPs on 30 May 2025 to advise that the northwest was now in drought status.

The EA has put out regular messages on social media to provide updates of the current drought situation. The EA has also carried out media interviews and provided statements to the press for any questions they had.

Last week the EA issued a press release which was uploaded to gov.uk about the current dry weather / drought situation.

The EA has been in regular liaison with the NFU, Canal & Rivers Trust and Fishery owners to gather intelligence on impacts, provide advice and guidance and confirm approach to regulation of licensed abstractions.