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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the powers of the Environmental Agency to (a) monitor and (b) maintain bathing water (i) status and (ii) quality.

The Environment Agency (EA) is the appropriate agency for monitoring and managing bathing waters in England. Their operational duties ensure the required testing and monitoring of bathing waters, and pollution risk forecasting during the bathing season. On 12 November, Defra also launched a consultation on reforms to the Bathing Water Regulations 2013. This consultation detailed proposals that included moving the fixed dates of the bathing season from Regulations into guidance and considering a sites water quality prior to designation. These proposals would allow the EA greater flexibility when monitoring sites and a more targeted approach to maintaining their status and quality.