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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to provide an alternative source of funding for local environmental projects in the event that fines on water companies are not sufficient to meet the projected expenditure on those projects.

In June, this Government announced that fines and penalties levied against water companies for environmental breaches will be reinvested into future local environmental projects across the country to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas. These could include local environmental programmes to address pollution and improve water quality. Further details about the projects and programmes to be funded and whether alternative sources of funding will be required will be confirmed in due course.