Asked by: Danny Kruger (Conservative - Devizes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of septic tanks on the cleanliness of rivers; and if he will make it his policy to ban septic tanks (a) in the catchment areas of chalk streams and (b) near other watercourses.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Large numbers of properties in rural areas of England rely on on-site water treatment systems as they are not connected to mains sewerage systems. Septic tanks, the most common on-site sewage treatment systems in these areas, are regulated to ensure they are maintained properly and do not cause pollution. Through our long-term Plan for Water, the Government is committed to delivering a clean water environment for people and nature, including the impact of private sewerage systems on chalk streams. This aligns with our broader commitment to review private sewage discharges regulation to manage environmental risk.
Asked by: Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many licences for abstraction in chalk streams have been rescinded in each year since 2010.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A total of 110 licences affecting chalk streams have been revoked since 2010. A further 158 have been varied or reduced.
The abstraction licence changes have returned over 37 billion litres of water per year to chalk catchments and prevented a further 110 billion litres per year being abstracted.
Number of abstraction licences, affecting chalk streams, that have been changed up to 30.09.23 | |||
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Year | Number of licences varied or reduced | Number of licences revoked | Total |
2010 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
2011 | 2 | 10 | 12 |
2012 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
2013 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
2014 | 14 | 6 | 20 |
2015 | 30 | 5 | 35 |
2016 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
2017 | 24 | 45 | 69 |
2018 | 43 | 16 | 59 |
2019 | 5 | 12 | 17 |
2020 | 9 | 5 | 14 |
2021 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
2022 | 1 | 1 | |
2023 | 10 | 3 | 13 |
Total | 158 | 110 | 268 |
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to protect chalk streams.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Restoring chalk streams is a Government priority. We reaffirmed this commitment in our Plan for Water, which recognises chalk streams as having special natural heritage. We are defining chalk streams as priority sites in our Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan with a target of 75% reduction in harmful spills into these rivers by 2035. And, we have also brought forward changes to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill (LURB) to include chalk streams in the definitions of ‘environmental protection’ and ‘natural environment’, meaning that chalk streams must be considered when undertaking environmental assessments in future.
At the Chalk Stream Restoration Conference in June, we announced that we would publish a Chalk Stream Recovery Pack to ensure national policy and community action to protect and restore chalk is well integrated. The Recovery Pack will champion the Chalk Stream Restoration Group's One Big Wish by raising the profile of chalk streams, providing certainty on Government action to increase protection and promote collective action on chalk.
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
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 will take steps to work with water companies to explore (a) the management of microplastics in sewage sludge and (b) options for protecting chalk streams; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Last year the Government launched the most ambitious plan to reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows in water company history. The Environment Agency is currently developing a microplastics monitoring plan for English rivers . The Government has prioritised chalk streams in policy and legislation. In the Plan for Water, we reaffirmed our commitment to protecting chalk streams and recognised them as having a special natural heritage.
Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she is taking steps to improve methods of measuring the (a) amount and (b) types of (i) microplastic and (ii) microfibres in chalk streams; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency is currently developing a microplastics monitoring plan for English rivers . The Government has prioritised chalk streams in policy and legislation. In the Plan for Water, we have reaffirmed our commitment to protecting chalk streams and recognised them as having a special natural heritage.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of anthelminthic concentrations in (1) freshwater generally, and (2) chalk streams specifically.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Our monitoring on emerging chemicals is conducted through targeted screening based on risk. Twelve anthelminthic chemicals are monitored across 21 fresh water sites. Of these sites 18 are chalk streams. There is currently no evidence of adverse effects from exposure to these substances.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Government has spent on protecting and restoring chalk streams in each year since 2015.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government does not record its Chalk Stream protection and restoration spend. Chalk Streams represent an important part of our national heritage, and the Government is committed to working with its stakeholders to ensure they are protected. This includes working with the Catchment Based Approach’s Chalk Stream Restoration Group to achieve the recommendations outlined in its 2021 Chalk Stream Strategy.
The Environment Agency has a £1 million annual Chalk Partnership Fund, to support projects that address water resources issues on chalk streams and contribute to the implementation of the Catchment Based Approach chalk stream restoration strategy. This may include habitat restoration and improving the monitoring of chalk streams.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many licenses or permits to abstract water from chalk streams were given to each water company in each year since 2015.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Environment Agency records indicate that a total of 2 new water company licences have been issued in chalk catchments, which are both transfer licences (non-consumptive use of water) since 2015 and 16 existing time limited licences have been renewed since 2015. The table attached provides the breakdown for the relevant water companies. New licences will only be issued if there is water available to be abstracted and may be issued with conditions to prevent or limit abstraction during periods of low flow. All new licences and renewal of time limited licences will have been assessed against environmental sustainability and justification of need criteria.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
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 improve water quality in the River Itchen.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Protecting our rivers and water bodies is a top priority for HM Government. We are taking action to address pollution from a variety of sources to improve water quality.
To tackle pollution to waterbodies from agriculture we have almost doubled the funding available for our Catchment Sensitive Farming programme over the next three years. Our new £30 million budget will expand the programme to cover 100% of farmland. We have also made extra budget available this year to the Environment Agency (EA) for 50 extra inspectors to be recruited in this financial year to visit farms posing a risk of water pollution and ensure action is taken.
The EA is working specifically across Hampshire catchments with farmers and landowners to ensure they are compliant with Environmental Regulations. This includes work via the Agriculture Regulatory Taskforce (ART), funded by Defra, to tackle diffuse pollution. On farm visits, EA officers issue actions for farmers to reduce pollution risk and improve the environment.
Chalk streams are both incredibly rare and a hugely important part of our environmental heritage. To protect the iconic chalk streams of the Test & Itchen, the EA is working with regional water resource planning groups to make sure these habitats are rightly prioritised, while delivering a resilient water supply to this growing area.
To tackle water pollution from sewage discharges, we have recently published our Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan. Our Plan sets new strict targets on water companies to reduce sewage spills and will secure the largest infrastructure programme in water company history - £56 billion capital investment over 25 years. Water companies are also required under the Environment Act to monitor the water quality impact up and downstream of all their assets. This monitoring data will be used by the EA to assess compliance with permits.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
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 improve water quality near Southampton.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Protecting our rivers and water bodies is a top priority for HM Government. We are taking action to address pollution from a variety of sources to improve water quality.
To tackle pollution to waterbodies from agriculture we have almost doubled the funding available for our Catchment Sensitive Farming programme over the next three years. Our new £30 million budget will expand the programme to cover 100% of farmland. We have also made extra budget available this year to the Environment Agency (EA) for 50 extra inspectors to be recruited in this financial year to visit farms posing a risk of water pollution and ensure action is taken.
The EA is working specifically across Hampshire catchments with farmers and landowners to ensure they are compliant with Environmental Regulations. This includes work via the Agriculture Regulatory Taskforce (ART), funded by Defra, to tackle diffuse pollution. On farm visits, EA officers issue actions for farmers to reduce pollution risk and improve the environment.
Chalk streams are both incredibly rare and a hugely important part of our environmental heritage. To protect the iconic chalk streams of the Test & Itchen, the EA is working with regional water resource planning groups to make sure these habitats are rightly prioritised, while delivering a resilient water supply to this growing area.
To tackle water pollution from sewage discharges, we have recently published our Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan. Our Plan sets new strict targets on water companies to reduce sewage spills and will secure the largest infrastructure programme in water company history - £56 billion capital investment over 25 years. Water companies are also required under the Environment Act to monitor the water quality impact up and downstream of all their assets. This monitoring data will be used by the EA to assess compliance with permits.