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 effectiveness of environmental protections for chalk streams.

Objectives and actions to protect and improve chalk streams are included in England’s river basin management plans. These plans provide the framework setting out how our rivers will improve over the next 6 years from investment and activity across the sectors.

Working with Natural England, the Environment Agency carries out monitoring and works with water companies and other stakeholders where actions are identified to protect and improve our water environment including chalk streams.

The Agency has changed 63 abstraction licences relating to 15 chalk streams across England, which has returned 16 million cubic metres per year of water back to chalk streams. Further, as a result of River Restoration Strategies and Site Improvement Plans being implemented on Sites of Special Scientific Interest chalk streams, 70 kilometres of priority chalk stream have been improved since 2011. Water company investment on phosphate removal at sewage treatment works across England will also benefit chalk rivers.