Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what metrics her Department plans to use to evaluate the effectiveness of water conservation programmes in rural areas of Buckinghamshire.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As part of the water resources management plan (WRMP) process, it is a statutory requirement for water companies to produce an annual review of their plans. The annual review sets out delivery of each WRMP component, including the effectiveness of water efficiency measures for domestic and non-domestic water company customers in rural areas. Outcomes from the annual review are also used to monitor progress against the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025 which sets out England’s long term water efficiency strategy and includes metrics to reduce domestic and non-domestic water use.
For water users with their own source of supply, the Environment Agency regulates abstraction through the issuing of abstraction licences. The Environment Agency monitors the use of these licences to ensure they meet their licence conditions and do not risk damage to the environment.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to improve planning and permitting processes for strategic water-resource schemes approved within Water Resource Management Plans, particularly to enable abstraction reductions from chalk streams.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is working towards improving soil health across England by measuring and monitoring the national condition of soil. Establishing a baseline is essential for evaluating change and identifying improvements or declines in soil health.
National soil monitoring began in October 2023 under the England Ecosystem Survey (EES), part of the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment programme. This five-year survey will provide a baseline of soil health in England, with Analysis Ready Data from earlier years published in December 2025: https://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/5610689568440320.
This data will feed into a Soil Health Indicator being developed by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. A national soil health baseline will be published by 2030.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on the reservoir from which the proposed Universal Studios Bedford theme park plans to draw its water supply.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Anglian Water has an existing program to upgrade water resources in the region by 65Ml/d which will provide infrastructure to the Universal application.
Universal has committed to a program to minimise water usage through collection of on-site water resources, be that rainwater run-off, lake abstraction, water recycling or possible use of borehole abstraction, as part of the application submission.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the mine water geothermal heat project recently piloted in Gateshead, what steps his Department is taking to support the development and rollout of low-cost, ecological, alternative carbon heating systems using geothermal energy from flooded coal mines or sewer systems.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
To achieve net zero at lowest cost, we are accelerating low-carbon technologies, including geothermal. Water from coal mines and sewer systems offers strong potential for heat networks. Projects can apply to the Green Heat Network Fund for support. DESNZ promotes sewer heat recovery as a reliable urban heat source, given its stable temperatures and alignment with demand. To ensure sustainable deployment, DESNZ issued Exclusion Zone Guidance to protect sewer thermal integrity and avoid conflicts between abstraction points, giving developers and water companies confidence in performance and investment. The Mining Remediation Authority has also published opportunity maps.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
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 potential merits of changing water regulation to permit dynamic abstraction from rivers during high river levels which cause flooding.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra recognises the value of flood and high flow water, especially in water stressed catchments.
The Environment Agency (EA) has published a Regulatory Position Statement that allows abstractors to pump water outside of normal licence conditions during flood warnings. It is also reviewing the licensing requirements for other low risk abstractions, including high flow abstraction. The EA encourages abstractors to take advantage of high flows by varying their licences. It has introduced ‘e-alerts’ to notify abstractors when flows exceed licence thresholds, is exploring the potential for automated pumping systems, and supporting a ‘smart farming’ project sponsored by MHCLG to further improve access. Water taken by abstractors will have minimal effect on reducing flooding, as pumping capacities would typically be dwarfed by flood volumes.
The planned move of water resources into the Environmental Permitting Regulations will provide even greater flexibility to ensure abstractors can access high flow and flood water.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
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 potential impact of Environment Agency regulation on farm reservoirs, and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that on-farm water storage can be developed (a) effectively and (b) safely to support food production.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The National Framework for Water Resources sets out the potential scale of action to secure sustainable levels of abstraction.
Many abstraction licences reservoirs are sustainable because they include conditions to protect the water environment. If not, the Environment Agency works collaboratively with abstractors to identify solutions, potentially removing the need for changes to abstraction licences, aiming to work with licence holders to allow adaptative measures to be implemented first where legally possible.
Reservoir safety regulation concerns ensuring reservoirs, their dams and embankments are safe. Government will consult on proposals to reform reservoir safety regulation, including tailoring requirements closer to the level of hazard.
Government supports farmers and growers with a Defra-funded programme of Local Resource Option studies to help them identify, screen and rank options to improve water supply resilience.
Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
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.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Fixing the systemic issues in the water system is essential to address the multiple pressures facing chalk streams. Chalk streams are embedded in our plan to reform the water industry. The Government has announced an ambitious programme of reforms to clean up our rivers, lakes, and seas for good.
We are tackling one of the biggest impacts on chalk streams by reducing the risk of harmful abstraction by an estimated 126 million litres daily by 2030, through the amendment of water company abstraction licences, protecting vital water flows to these fragile ecosystems.
We are rebuilding the entire water network through one of the largest infrastructure projects in this country’s history with a record £104 billion investment to upgrade crumbling pipes and cut sewage spills, which will help to protect chalk streams.
Our protections through the Water (Special Measures) Act will ensure chalk streams are preserved for future generations.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (a) what recent assessment her Department has made of adequacy of the ecological health of chalk streams; and (b) what steps she is taking to meet Environment Act 2021 targets for their recovery.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Under the Environment Act 2021, a legally binding target was set to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment from agriculture entering the water environment by 40% by 2038. We have committed to a review of the Environmental Improvement Plan which will set out how Defra will deliver our ambitious Environment Act targets to clean up our waterways.
This Government is already taking action to restore our chalk streams to better ecological health. Our Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan ensures chalk streams are prioritised for improvement as part of the record £11 billion investment to improve nearly 3,000 storm overflows in England and Wales. We are reducing the risk of harmful abstraction by an estimated 126 million litres daily by 2030 through the amendment of water company abstraction licences, protecting vital water flows to these fragile ecosystems.
Asked by: Graham Leadbitter (Scottish National Party - Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of his Department's policy on hydrogen on regional water availability.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We are working with environmental regulators in England, Scotland and Wales, as well as DEFRA and National Energy System Operator (NESO) to ensure that the impact of projects on regional water bodies is carefully considered.
Asked by: Graham Leadbitter (Scottish National Party - Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Hydrogen strategy update to the market: December 2024, published on 17 December 2024, when he plans to publish the report on Water Demand for Hydrogen Production.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
DESNZ has published the Water Demand for Hydrogen Production report, which shows the variation in water demand for hydrogen production based on the production technology, water source and cooling system used.