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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of clause 9 (c)(5) of the Bathing Water (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2025 on public information on water quality.

Regulation 9 of the Bathing Water (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2025 amends Regulation 15A of the Bathing Water Regulations 2013 and requires the appropriate Minister to prepare and publish a report on the bathing season or seasons for that year.

It broadly makes the same provision for publication of annual reports as under the previous Regulation 15A but with consequential changes to reflect that there will be a discretion to set different bathing seasons under amendments made by Regulation 5 of the 2025 Regulations. There is no change in the frequency of reports (annual) nor in the content of the reports required.