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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding his Department has made available to the Environment Agency to (a) monitor and (b) classify bathing water in beaches and waterways in each of the last five years.

The Environment Agency is allocated Environment Protection Grant in Aid funding in total from Government rather than Grant in Aid by activity. This is then allocated to teams delivering Environment Protection. A range of different teams delivering Environmental Protection contribute towards bathing water quality as well as other core outcomes. This limits breakdown beyond the level set out below, which represents a total of resource and capital funding. However, funding for 2022/23 includes £2.2 million, specifically for water company enforcement activity, including at least 4,000 farm visits per year and 500 sewerage inspections.