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 adequacy of the duration of abstraction licences for farms.

Time limits are a legislative requirement for abstraction licences. The Environment Agency (EA) issues licences with time limits from 6 to 18 years in line with its approach to managing water abstraction. Applicants can apply for a long duration licence for up to 24 years. The EA are reviewing the criteria to make it easier to apply for a long duration licence. The Government plans to move abstraction and impoundment regulation into the Environmental Permitting Regulations to improve how we use water resources; new permits will be issued without time limits.