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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to improve the quality of coastal water in Bournemouth.

The Dorset/Hampshire coastal waterbody extends from Portland Bill to the southern tip of the Isle of Wight. Its Water Framework regulations status overall is Good. It is considered ‘Probably At Risk’ due to alien species. The Environment Agency (EA) are taking no direct local action in this regard as global warming and shipping are the main risk factors.

Most bathing waters in the vicinity are classified as Excellent. Boscombe Pier bathing water is classified as Good. It was subject to an investigation by Wessex Water in the 2020 - 2025 investment round. This has been completed and no water company interventions were identified that would improve bathing water quality to a robust Excellent status.

There are a handful of storm overflows that discharge to Poole Bay. As a minimum, Wessex Water will be required to reduce spill frequencies to ensure at least Good bathing water quality at local beaches by 2035 under the requirements of the Environment Act. The EA have significantly driven up monitoring and transparency from water companies in recent years, so that everyone can see how often and for how long storm overflows are used. All the data is published online. The operation of local storm overflows are included in the Surfers Against Sewage “Safer Seas Service”. This site includes the Environment Agency Pollution Risk Forecast warnings. Further details of this service can be found at http://www.sas.org.uk/safer-seas-service/.