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1698543

registered interest
date	25/03/2024
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Water Abstraction: Licensing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to reform the abstraction licensing regime in England.
tabling member constituency	Ceredigion
tabling member printed	Ben Lake
uin	20368
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/04/2024 answer text <p>As set out in the Plan for Water, Defra and the Environment Agency are undertaking a programme of changes to modernise abstraction licensing in England. We are working to move the water abstraction licensing system into the Environmental Permitting Regime. This will provide a modern, consistent and flexible legal framework upon which the management of abstraction can be developed to meet the needs of today and the future.</p><p> </p><p>Alongside the legislative changes, the Environment Agency is modernising its digital systems to maximise the opportunities the new legislation provides. This will bring new functionality to improve the way abstraction is managed, including a water abstraction eAlerts system which provides notifications directly to farmers. As the environment and our climate changes, the Environment Agency is adapting its policies in response. The Environment Agency has recently produced a regulatory position statement setting out how flood water can be abstracted for the benefit of abstractors but ensuring that the environment is protected.</p><p> </p><p>The Environment Agency is also undertaking a refresh of the National Framework for water resources, which looks at how best to manage water resources across England. Through this, abstractors from all sectors will come together to identify water needs and the best way of meeting them.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 15/04/2024 13:46:37 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	4630 label Biography information for Ben Lake

1694982

registered interest
date	11/03/2024
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Water Abstraction: Licensing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many licences for abstraction in chalk streams have been rescinded in each year since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Suffolk Coastal
tabling member printed	Dr Thérèse Coffey
uin	17840
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/03/2024 answer text <p>A total of 110 licences affecting chalk streams have been revoked since 2010. A further 158 have been varied or reduced.</p><p> </p><p>The abstraction licence changes have returned over 37 billion litres of water per year to chalk catchments and prevented a further 110 billion litres per year being abstracted.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><p><strong>Number of abstraction licences, affecting chalk streams, that have been changed up to 30.09.23</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of licences varied or reduced </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of licences revoked </strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>12</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014</p></td><td><p>14</p></td><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>20</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015</p></td><td><p>30</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>35</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017</p></td><td><p>24</p></td><td><p>45</p></td><td><p>69</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018</p></td><td><p>43</p></td><td><p>16</p></td><td><p>59</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>12</p></td><td><p>17</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020</p></td><td><p>9</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>14</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021</p></td><td><p>0</p></td><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2022</p></td><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2023</p></td><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>13</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>158</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>110</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>268</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 18/03/2024 17:17:33 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey

1679704

registered interest
date	05/01/2024
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Water Abstraction: Licensing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department holds data on the number of water abstraction licences that have been issued by the Environment Agency in each year since 2015.
tabling member constituency	Solihull
tabling member printed	Julian Knight
uin	8025
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/02/2024 answer text <p>The number of new water abstraction licences that have been issued by the Environment Agency (EA) in each year since 2015 is as follows (the data set may not be complete for December 2023):</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of abstraction licences</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015</p></td><td><p>931</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016</p></td><td><p>815</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017</p></td><td><p>931</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018</p></td><td><p>815</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019</p></td><td><p>1357</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020</p></td><td><p>1014</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021</p></td><td><p>377</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2022</p></td><td><p>369</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2023</p></td><td><p>536</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Grand Total</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>7145</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In addition to issuing new licences, the Environment Agency also processes applications to vary, revoke, reduce, lapse, vest, apportion and transfer abstraction licences. Under the Water Resources Regulatory Regime, as well as abstraction licences the EA also processes impoundment licence applications. In total the EA has processed 13,844 applications since 2015.</p><p> </p><p>The number of water abstraction licences issued each year varies due to the number of time limited licences that are due to expire in each year. If a licence holder wants to continue to abstract water after the date the licence expires, they must apply to the EA to renew the licence.</p><p> </p><p>New regulations came into effect on 1 January 2018 to improve the management of water resources and to ensure protection of the environment. Licensing exemptions that previously allowed the use of water from ground or surface water sources without the need for a licence were mostly removed. This process is known as New Authorisations. Between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2022, the EA issued 1,322 New Authorisations licences. These are included in the table above.</p> answering member constituency Keighley answering member printed Robbie Moore question first answered 07/02/2024 18:03:03 answering member 4861 label Biography information for Robbie Moore
tabling member	4410 label Biography information for Julian Knight

1653905

registered interest
date	18/07/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Water Abstraction: Licensing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that abstraction licence holders are given adequate time to adapt when their licences are (a) modified and (b) revoked.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	194764
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/09/2023 answer text <p>The Environment Agency makes changes to abstraction licences to achieve environmentally sustainable levels of abstraction to meet its legal duties and the Government’s environmental ambitions. If a change to an abstraction licence is required to make it environmentally sustainable, the Environment Agency recognises that abstractors need time to adapt to this change. Accordingly, the Environment Agency writes to abstractors to warn them that their licences may need to change in the future with further detail to follow once it has completed its review of the licences. Additionally, the Environment Agency has said it will give abstractors time to adapt to any licence changes on a case-by-case basis depending on the environmental risks.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 08/09/2023 15:56:49 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1653906

registered interest
date	18/07/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Water Abstraction: Licensing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring the Environment Agency to carry out an assessment of the potential impact on food production whenever there are changes to abstraction licences in the (a) agriculture and (b) horticulture sector.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	194765
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/09/2023 answer text <p>The Environment Agency already has a duty to consider the costs and benefits of its actions. The Environment Agency applies this duty in abstraction licence and regulatory decisions. There is recognition of the impact a change in abstraction licence conditions can have on the agriculture and horticulture sectors. Where restrictions and licence changes are absolutely necessary the Environment Agency looks to work directly with licence holders to implement changes on a voluntary basis first. When managing droughts, the Environment Agency also looks to introduce partial restrictions (e.g. abstraction every other day, or night time only) and then total bans on water abstraction as a last resort. During the drought of 2022, the Environment Agency avoided the need for total irrigation bans by using this approach. However, the cost-benefit duty does not override the need for the Environment Agency to undertake its wider duties and functions to meet statutory environmental objectives.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 05/09/2023 15:13:59 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1652362

registered interest
date	12/07/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Water Abstraction: Licensing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department's timeline is for transferring all abstraction licenses into the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.
tabling member constituency	Westmorland and Lonsdale
tabling member printed	Tim Farron
uin	193578
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/07/2023 answer text <p>We are working to move the water abstraction licensing regime into the Environmental Permitting Regulations. We consulted on the move in Autumn 2021 and are considering the responses alongside wider actions in our Plan for Water.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 21/07/2023 15:17:55 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	1591 label Biography information for Tim Farron

1645707

registered interest
date	19/06/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Water Abstraction: Licensing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will work with the Environment Agency to develop a service level agreement with water abstraction licence holders on time for adaption when licences are changed.
tabling member constituency	St Albans
tabling member printed	Daisy Cooper
uin	190174
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/06/2023 answer text <p>In April we published our Plan for Water, which sets out the importance of ensuring a clean and plentiful water supply, including environmentally sustainable water abstraction. I expect the Environment Agency to take what action is needed to reduce the environmental damage caused by abstraction – this will include changing abstraction licences.</p><p> </p><p>The Environment Agency has indicated that it will consider giving abstractors time to adapt to licence changes on a case-by-case basis. Management options could include, for example, building a storage reservoir to replace a summer spray irrigation licence to abstract from a river. The Environment Agency is currently developing its approach, but current thinking is that it will be up to abstractors to justify why they need time to adapt. There will not be any fixed adaptation time but instead the period of time will be consistent with the environmental risks, the proposed adaptation and how much notice an abstractor has already had of the changes. Where an abstraction is already damaging the environment then it may not be possible for the Environment Agency to allow any time to adapt, especially where an abstraction is damaging a designated site or species. The Government also supports the agricultural sector with its Farming Transformation Fund grants for the construction of new on-farm reservoirs. We are also supporting the creation of national and regional Water Resource Management Plans for agriculture, which will help farmers plan their water resources and ensure better resilience to drought.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 23/06/2023 13:59:03 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4769 label Biography information for Daisy Cooper

1609797

registered interest
date	14/04/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Water Abstraction: Licensing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the Environment Agency on helping to ensure that the process for abstraction licences is adaptable and flexible.
tabling member constituency	Tatton
tabling member printed	Esther McVey
uin	179930
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/04/2023 answer text <p>The Environment Agency has recently invested in significant additional resources to help improve the determination timescales associated with abstraction licence applications and to reduce the number of applications in the queue. Improvements are already being seen. The Environment Agency is also prioritising licence applications and Habitats Risk Assessments which are associated with Rural Payments Agency grants for farm storage reservoirs and has appointed a specialist to help support these applications through the process.</p><p> </p><p>The Environment Agency and Defra are working closely with the sector to help farmers refill storage reservoirs and recover from the 2022 drought, and to improve the sector’s resilience to future drought. This includes improvements to water resources planning, investment in infrastructure, greater collaboration across all sectors of use, and more rapid communications to improve access to water when it is available.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 21/04/2023 13:26:56 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4084 label Biography information for Esther McVey

1609798

registered interest
date	14/04/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Water Abstraction: Licensing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she bring forward legislative proposals to help ensure that a food risk assessment is made when changes to abstraction licences or restrictions are implemented to ensure that due regard is given to any potential impact on food security.
tabling member constituency	Tatton
tabling member printed	Esther McVey
uin	179931
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/04/2023 answer text <p>The Environment Agency has a duty to take into account the costs and benefits of its actions. The Environment Agency applies this duty, for example, when considering the need for irrigation restrictions. There is recognition of the devastating impacts that a total ban may have on the yield and quality of crops, so where restrictions are absolutely necessary the Environment Agency looks to introduce restrictions on a voluntary basis first, followed by partial restrictions (e.g., abstraction every other day, or night time only) and then total bans as a last resort. During the drought of 2022, the Environment Agency avoided the need for total irrigation bans by using this approach.</p> answering member constituency Taunton Deane answering member printed Rebecca Pow question first answered 20/04/2023 12:48:32 answering member 4522 label Biography information for Rebecca Pow
tabling member	4084 label Biography information for Esther McVey

683975

registered interest
date	03/02/2017
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Water Abstraction: Licensing
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 2 February (HL4792), whether they will publish the abstraction licences relating to (1) Thirlmere Reservoir, and (2) Haweswater Reservoir, with the precise locations of the abstraction points redacted.
tabling member printed	Lord Campbell-Savours
uin	HL5207
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/02/2017 answer text <p>The Environment Agency does not publish the licences because these include the precise locations of abstraction points for public water supply which cannot be made generally available on national security and public safety grounds. Information on the Thirlmere and Haweswater reservoirs is already available at ‘Water Abstraction Licences - Environment Agency’ on gov.uk website.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Gardiner of Kimble question first answered 17/02/2017 14:08:59 answering member 4161 label Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble
tabling member	499 label Biography information for Lord Campbell-Savours