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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her department has made to a) strengthen the Environment Agency and b) support the EAs work to improve the condition of the River Wear.

The Environment Agency (EA) works to ensure all sectors, including the water industry, are fulfilling their legal responsibilities to the environment. Where breaches and illegal activity are found, they will not hesitate to hold companies to account.

The Water (Special Measures) Act has provided the most significant increase in enforcement powers to regulators, including EA in a decade, to take tougher action against water companies.

The Environment Agency is regulating Northumbrian Water to ensure it invests in the Wear catchment to reduce sewage discharges and improve water quality through the water industry national environment programme (WINEP). As part of this WINEP cycle, there are approximately 400 investigations and interventions to improve the condition of the River Wear.