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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department plans to update the UK’s water quality monitoring frameworks to ensure that persistent pollutants, including PFAS chemicals and microplastics, are monitored across all waterbodies and wastewater.

The Government is committed to ensuring the UK’s water quality monitoring frameworks are fit for purpose; improving environmental protection by setting clear and enforceable standards for water quality and ecological health.

Through the Clean Water Bill, we intend to progress an ambitious, coherent reset of the legislative framework – including exploring updates to elements of the Water Framework Directive Regulations and Urban Waste Water Treatment Regulations. The Government’s PFAS Plan, published on 3 February 2026, also committed to continue to develop toxicological thresholds for PFAS that may impact on the quality of our water environment to support regulatory actions. As part of this work, we will consider whether stronger monitoring standards should be established for persistent pollutants.