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 merits of using fines collected from water companies to support angling societies to replenish fish stocks.

In the Plan for Water, we announced the Water Restoration Fund which will channel environmental fines and penalties collected from water companies into projects that improve the water environment. The Fund will support a wide range of projects to improve the environment such as removing invasive non-native species; creating and restoring water-dependent habitats; removing barriers to enable fish and other species’ natural movement in rivers. Further details will be announced later in the year.