Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs written question – answered at on 23 May 2024.
Matthew Offord
Conservative, Hendon
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the oral evidence given by Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Water and Rural Growth) to the Environmental Audit Committee on 15 May 2024, which designated bathing water location was tested three times more than was statutorily necessary.
Robbie Moore
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
There are currently 451 designated bathing waters in England and the Environment Agency takes over 7,000 bathing water samples each year. The Bathing Water Regulations 2013 require designated bathing waters to be sampled at least 5 times per bathing season. This year, all bathing waters in England will be sampled more than this statutory minimum. The table below summarises the number of sites at each planned sampling frequency for the 2024 bathing season.
Number of planned samples per season | Number of sites |
20 | 236 |
15 | 109 |
10 | 106 |
Yes3 people think so
No4 people think not
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