Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of attenuation ponds in reducing both the volume and flow of run from major roads where such works were not considered necessary pre-1990.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Attenuation ponds are deployed by Risk Management Authorities as a flood alleviation measure; they are determined by a range of factors including cost to benefit ratio and the standard of protection that can be achieved. In recent years, the highway sector has been innovative in its use of sustainable drainage and green infrastructure to help manage road flooding.
A new three-year £4.2 billion Flood and Coastal Risk Investment Programme will start in April 2026, where new projects will align with the strategic objectives set out in the Government’s new funding rules announced in October 2025. This means investment goes where it is most needed, accounting for flood risk, value for money, natural flood management opportunity and additional contributions to make Government investment go further. This investment will benefit properties, infrastructure and agriculture.
The Government and the Environment Agency are committed to improving England’s picture of flood and coastal erosion risk, including from surface water. The Environment Agency published its new National Flood Risk Assessment (NaFRA) data in 2025.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the new energy performance certificates methodology will take into account higher-rated water heaters and infrared heating.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Technologies for which we have already obtained sufficient evidence – including heat batteries for water heating – will be supported at launch of HEM: EPC. Other technologies will be added over time via the new innovative product recognition process.
Government is working with manufacturers to ensure that infrared systems can be represented fully and accurately. To enable this, further work is required from industry to develop a robust, validated test method for measuring their operative temperature.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of improving a) research, b) monitoring and c) labelling of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government published a PFAS Plan on 3 February 2026, which sets out its approach towards protecting human health and the environment from risks posed by PFAS.
Research is being commissioned and coordinated across the Government, regulators, academia and industry to close key evidence-gaps on PFAS health, environmental impacts and innovation of alternatives.
Defra has funded the Environmental Agency to develop one of the most capable PFAS monitoring programmes globally. Using improved analytical methods and data from a range of sources, it covers water, wildlife, soil and industrial emissions.
A number of the most harmful PFAS already have a mandatory classification and labelling for carcinogenicity under the GB Classification, Labelling and Packaging regime.
Asked by: Olly Glover (Liberal Democrat - Didcot and Wantage)
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 publish the flood and safety risk assessments for the proposed SESRO reservoir.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to delivering best value for customers through the water infrastructure programme, while supporting growth and ensuring a resilient water supply. The Government’s Water Delivery Taskforce is working across Government, regulators and water industry stakeholders to ensure this.
White Horse Reservoir is subject to ongoing assessment through the Regulators’ Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development (RAPID) gated process, which includes further investigations and assessments to inform a development consent application.
Through the development consent process consideration is given to flood and safety management and other regulatory requirements. This sits within the safety framework set out by the Reservoirs Act. All required assessments will be submitted by Thames Water to the Planning Inspectorate and the Secretary of State for consideration.
Asked by: Olly Glover (Liberal Democrat - Didcot and Wantage)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department holds information related to an independent comparative assessment of the potential cost to the public pursue of Thames Water's White Horse reservoir proposal with (a) the creation of a smaller reservoir, (b) Severn-Trent Transfer, and (c) a combination of both options.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Thames Water has selected the reservoir as part of its statutory Water Resources Management Plan. Water Resources South East has also conducted an options appraisal process, identifying the reservoir's necessity in its Regional Plan. The plans continue to be scrutinised by the water regulators.
Asked by: Olly Glover (Liberal Democrat - Didcot and Wantage)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the potential impact of the SESRO project on the water bills of customers of (a) Thames Water, (b) Southern Water and (c) Affinity Water; and whether this estimate has been updated for the most recent increases in the expected cost of the project.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to delivering best value for customers through the water infrastructure programme, while supporting growth and ensuring a resilient water supply. The Government’s Water Delivery Taskforce is working across Government, regulators and water industry stakeholders to ensure this.
White Horse Reservoir is subject to ongoing assessment through the Regulators’ Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development (RAPID) gated process, which includes further investigations and assessments to inform a development consent application.
Through the development consent process consideration is given to flood and safety management and other regulatory requirements. This sits within the safety framework set out by the Reservoirs Act. All required assessments will be submitted by Thames Water to the Planning Inspectorate and the Secretary of State for consideration.
Asked by: Olly Glover (Liberal Democrat - Didcot and Wantage)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department had a cap for the level of cost increase for Thames Water’s SESRO project above which the project would not have been approved.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to delivering best value for customers through the water infrastructure programme, while supporting growth and ensuring a resilient water supply. The Government’s Water Delivery Taskforce is working across Government, regulators and water industry stakeholders to ensure this.
White Horse Reservoir is subject to ongoing assessment through the Regulators’ Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development (RAPID) gated process, which includes further investigations and assessments to inform a development consent application.
Through the development consent process consideration is given to flood and safety management and other regulatory requirements. This sits within the safety framework set out by the Reservoirs Act. All required assessments will be submitted by Thames Water to the Planning Inspectorate and the Secretary of State for consideration.
Asked by: Victoria Atkins (Conservative - Louth and Horncastle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department's White Paper entitled A New Vision for Water, published on 20 January 2026, what estimate she has made of the average annual cost of complying with the environmental permit regime for an average cattle farm.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
An environmental permit would require regulated businesses to apply measures to reduce pollution. The cost of complying with a permit would depend on which pollution measures they would be required to adopt, which would depend largely on the type of farm and the risk it poses to the environment.
Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to make water social tariff (a) eligibility, (b) discount levels and (c) application processes (i) transparent and (ii) subject to government oversight.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra expects water companies to ensure that their customers know what support schemes are available and how to access them if they need help. Companies offer a range of support schemes for customers struggling to afford their bills, including social tariffs, WaterSure, debt support schemes, financial hardship funds, flexible payment plans and payment breaks. Defra is working with water companies to ensure social tariffs are more consistent and taken up by those most in need.
Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of support for water social tariff across different regions; and what steps she is taking to ensure households in similar financial circumstances are treated equally.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Evidence shows that levels of social tariff provision vary between regions because each water company sets its own eligibility criteria and level of support. The Government keeps support schemes under review and expects industry to do the same to ensure vulnerable customers across the country are supported, and customers know what support schemes are available and how to access them if they need help.
Water companies have more than doubled the number of customers that will receive help with their bills through social tariffs – from 4% to 9%.