The Environment Agency has been widely criticised in the press for its failures to tackle water pollution in rivers in England following last week’s publication of data revealing that for the first time no river has achieved good chemical status and just 14% reached good ecological standard.

The Natural Capital Committee (NCC) is warning that there is little evidence of progress and worrying evidence of declines in its latest assessment of how the government is performing against its own ten 25 Year Environment Plan (YEP) goals.

The Blueprint for Water coalition is calling for water companies’ 2019 Price Review investment plans to deliver a ‘water neutral’ PR19 and for the firms to ensure that no overall increase in the amount of water is abstracted from rivers and groundwater - despite increases in population and climate change.