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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to protect chalk streams.

In June 2025 the Environment Agency updated its National Framework for water resources, setting out the importance of chalk streams and how we will include their needs in all water resources planning and decision making.

The Government is prioritising chalk streams in our Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan by classifying them as high priority sites.

The Government will set out in due course our plans to reform the entire water sector, ensuring that iconic British habitats, including chalk streams, alongside all our rivers, lakes, and seas, are preserved for future generations.