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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to publish a review comparing UK bathing-water (a) monitoring and (b) classification systems with international best practice.

Existing practices for monitoring and classification in the UK mirror the European Commission’s Bathing Water Directive which is based on the World Health Organisation’s recommendations for management of recreational waters.

Environment Agency (EA) monitoring also currently exceeds the minimum requirements of the Bathing Water Directive at all Bathing Waters.

The Government is committed to improving the quality of our coastal waters, rivers and lakes for the benefit of the environment and everyone who uses it. We are continually working to improve and modernise our bathing waters system and learn from best practice.

We laid an SI on 28 October, due to come into force on 21 November 2025 which introduces three core reforms and several technical amendments to the Bathing Water Regulations. These will bring legislation in line with modern sampling practices, allowing the EA to improve ways of working and improve delivery for the public.