Written questions by Huq.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to make smart metering mandatory in the water sector.

Water companies already have the ability to charge by water meters on a mandatory basis in areas designated water stressed. This is only able to feature in water companies’ long-term plans if it represents value for money and has customer support. The Government has committed to working with Ofwat to assess the recommendations from a report led by Baringa on the current approach including exploring mandatory standards for smart meter rollouts. This will reduce leakage and enable customers to have more data to make water and cost-efficient choices.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to improve the monitoring of per-and poly fluoroalkyl substances.

The Government is committed to protecting human health and the environment from the risks posed by PFAS. We are working across Government to assess levels of PFAS in the environment, their sources and potential risks to inform our approach to policy and regulation. This includes a multi-year programme run by the Environment Agency (EA) to better understand sources of PFAS pollution in England. Part of the programme is to identify and assess the most significant sites of PFAS contamination. We are developing strategies for managing risks to the environment, and where appropriate working with partner authorities to assess and manage risk to the public.