Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances

Thursday 19 December 2024 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial Questions addressed potential merits of statutory footing for Drinking Water Inspectorise's guidance on PFAS
  • Munira Wilson thanked the Minister and accepted an offer for a meeting on PFAS in drinking water
  • Minister confirmed work to assess PFAS risks and to inform policy and regulatory approaches including bans and restrictions

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Munira Wilson Lib Dem Twickenham
Environment
Context

The Drinking Water Inspectorate requires water companies to monitor, assess, and report on PFAS risks. There are concerns about the adequacy of this approach.

Question

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of putting the Drinking Water Inspectorate's guidance on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances on a statutory footing.

Answer from Emma Hardy

I thank the hon. Lady for raising this important issue. The Drinking Water Inspectorate requires water companies to monitor, assess and report on the risks from PFAS. We are aware of concerns relating to that, and officials are working on it.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific ask about statutory footing was not addressed.

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Q2 Munira Wilson Lib Dem Twickenham
NHS Environment
Context

There are concerns about the impact of PFAS in drinking water, with other regions like Scotland, EU, and US taking statutory measures.

Question

Happy Christmas, Mr Speaker. I thank the Minister for her answer and for offering me a meeting on this topic earlier this week—I look forward to pursuing it with her. Given the wealth of authoritative evidence on the harmful impact on human health of PFAS in our drinking water, and that Scotland, the European Union and the United States have all put PFAS guidance on a statutory footing, why do this Government appear to have no plans to do the same for England and Wales? Will the Minister consider amending the Water (Special Measures) Bill to that end?

Answer from Emma Hardy

As I have mentioned, this is an important issue, and I look forward to discussing it in more detail. Work to assess the risks of PFAS, and to inform policy and regulatory approaches—including banning or highly restricting certain chemicals and addressing issues caused by their historical use—is continuing.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific ask about statutory measures was not directly addressed.

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