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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Welsh government on the limit of water abstractions from the river Usk to supply Monmouth and Brecon canal.

Water abstraction licensing in Wales, and conditions that may be attached to licences, are a devolved matter for Natural Resources Wales and the Welsh Government. Defra and the Environment Agency do not have a role in that. Issues of concern about the supply of water for the Monmouth and Brecon Canal are an operational matter for the Canal and River Trust, as the independent charity owning the canal, to resolve with Natural Resources Wales.