§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps OFWAT is taking to improve water quality standards. [28701]
§ Angela EagleThe regulation and enforcement of water quality is principally the responsibility of the Environment Agency, in respect of the water environment, and the Drinking Water Inspectorate, in respect of drinking water quality. Water companies themselves have the responsibility to ensure that they meet the quality standards set by legislation and enforced by those regulators. The Director General of Water Services has a primary statutory duty to secure that water companies properly carry out, and are able to finance, their functions. He also has general duties including one to further conservation of, among other things, flora and fauna, and one to take account of the effect of proposals on flora and fauna, but he is not responsible for improving water quality.