§ Mr. AmosTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentages of United Kingdom rivers are classed as being of good or fair quality by the European Community; and what is the European Community average.
§ Mr. HowardThere is no river quality classification scheme laid down by the European Community. Each member state uses different systems, criteria and class boundaries for categorising rivers which makes assessments at Community level difficult. However, a review of classification schemes across member states published in 1988 by the Water Research Centre showed that on the basis of comparisons with the river classification scheme used in this country, an average of 83 per cent. of EC rivers were of good or fair quality compared with 95 per cent. in the United Kingdom. No other member state had a higher proportion of good or fair quality rivers than the United Kingdom, although our position was equalled by the Netherlands.