Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 9
9
Accepted
Paragraph: 68
Every community in the country should have access to waters—whether coastal or inland—that are safe...
Conclusion
Every community in the country should have access to waters—whether coastal or inland—that are safe for people to swim in without running the risk of falling ill. Regulators and water companies have made a great deal of progress since the 1990s in cleaning up and monitoring our coastal waters so that they are fit for bathing. This progress must now be extended to rivers. We welcome the efforts made by those water companies that are already working towards designation of river stretches.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government outlines ongoing and planned actions through environmental land management schemes and an expanded Catchment Sensitive Farming partnership to incentivise farmers to reduce agricultural pollution and improve water quality, particularly in areas draining into bathing waters.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
68
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted
Anyone, including water companies, can apply for a new bathing water designation and the Government then considers those applications. We encourage applications for new bathing water designations annually and are actively exploring ways to make the application process more accessible to build on this. To be eligible for designation, a bathing water must meet the criteria set for designation in the Bathing Water Regulations 2013, primarily that sites must have a large number of bathers and that bathing is promoted through adequate infrastructure and facilities. Local stakeholders are best placed to know which popular bathing areas may be suitable for designation. In 2021 two water companies, Severn Trent and South West Water, successfully applied to the Green Recovery Fund to undertake improvements across their network in order to create bathing water quality stretches of river in their areas. To make it easier for water community groups to understand the criteria for bathing water status and ensure only necessary information is requested, this year the Government will revise its existing guidance on how to make an application for a new bathing water designation.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗