Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of using real-time water quality monitoring on improving bathing water management.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government introduced the Water Special Measures Act (2025), requiring real-time monitoring at every emergency overflow so the public can see what is happening locally, including in many bathing waters.100% of storm overflows have been fitted with event duration monitors (EDMs) since the end of 2023, and since the 1st of January 2025, water companies have been required to publish this data in near real-time.
The Environment Agency’s existing practices for monitoring and classification of bathing waters in England are based on the World Health Organisation’s recommendations for the management of recreational waters and exceed the minimum requirements of the Bathing Water Directive at all Bathing Waters.
All sample results are made available to the public as soon as they are analysed via the Swimfo website, so the public can make informed decisions about bathing. Throughout the bathing season, the EA also makes daily pollution risk forecasts for bathing waters where water quality may be temporarily reduced due to factors such as heavy rainfall, wind or the tide.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 is taking steps to help support the expansion of real-time bathing water quality monitoring.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government introduced the Water Special Measures Act (2025), requiring real-time monitoring at every emergency overflow so the public can see what is happening locally, including in many bathing waters.100% of storm overflows have been fitted with event duration monitors (EDMs) since the end of 2023, and since the 1st of January 2025, water companies have been required to publish this data in near real-time.
The Environment Agency’s existing practices for monitoring and classification of bathing waters in England are based on the World Health Organisation’s recommendations for the management of recreational waters and exceed the minimum requirements of the Bathing Water Directive at all Bathing Waters.
All sample results are made available to the public as soon as they are analysed via the Swimfo website, so the public can make informed decisions about bathing. Throughout the bathing season, the EA also makes daily pollution risk forecasts for bathing waters where water quality may be temporarily reduced due to factors such as heavy rainfall, wind or the tide.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with the Centre for Resilience in Environment, Water and Waste at the University of Exeter on bathing water monitoring and standards.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Chief Scientist of the Environment Agency presented at the ‘Safe to Swim Forum’ meeting at the Centre for Resilience in Environment, Water and Waste in September 2025 on the Environment Agency’s science relating to bathing waters. 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.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with Torbay Council on its development of a localised bathing water framework.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2026 to Question 115602 on Nature Conservation: Planning Permission, what monitoring requirements are required for developments located near hydrologically sensitive wetlands.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Any monitoring requirement would depend on the nature of both the development and the wetland’s protected status.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what scientific evidence Natural England is using to determine whether a development has a potential hydrological impacts on hydrologically dependent Sites of Special Scientific Interest, including wetlands such as Wolborough Fen.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Natural England assesses all available information on both impacts and mitigation and uses professional judgement and scientific expertise to provide advice to decision-makers.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment Natural England has made of hydrological impacts on wetland Sites of Special Scientific Interest being mitigated through post‑construction monitoring or compensation measures.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Post-construction monitoring or compensation measures are secured by the local planning authority through mechanisms such as conditions. Natural England has a programme of SSSI monitoring through feature assessments and the results are available on Designated Sites View.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to ask the Department, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2026 to Question 115602 on Nature Conservation: Planning Permission, what guidance her Department issues to Natural England on assessing hydrological risks to wetland Sites of Special Scientific Interest when providing advice on major housing developments.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is determined by various legislation and the National Planning Policy Framework.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2026 to Question 115602, for what reasons Wolborough Fen SSSI is not included among the catchments selected by Natural England for early Environmental Delivery Plans, regarding a) the criteria used by Natural England when identifying catchments for initial Environmental Delivery Plans, and, b) the factors considered when determining whether a hydrologically sensitive site such as Wolborough Fen SSSI should fall within an early Environmental Delivery Plan area.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The first Environmental Delivery Plans (EDPs) have been prioritised for designated sites where nutrient neutrality advice applies on the basis that it is a known environmental pressure where strategic solutions already exist. Wolborough Fen SSSI is not a designated site which nutrient neutrality currently applies to.
The Government committed to return to Parliament after the first nutrients EDPs are made to issue a statement on the initial lessons learned from their development and implementation before introducing further EDPs covering other issues.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what national policy framework governs the protection of hydrologically sensitive Sites of Special Scientific Interest where Environmental Delivery Plans are not in place.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The protection of Sites of Special Scientific Interest, including those that are hydrologically sensitive is governed principally by section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and paragraph 193(b) of the National Planning Policy Framework.