Environment secretary gives assurances over supply of water treatment chemicals

The secretary of state for the environment has expressed confidence that there would be sufficient supplies of chemicals for treating water drinking if the UK left the EU without a withdrawal agreement in place.

The government’s recently published ‘Yellowhammer’ emergency planning document, which outlines potential risks in the event of a no-deal Brexit, warned that water supplies for hundreds of thousands of people could be affected if the supply chain for these vital chemicals was disrupted.

But Theresa Villiers told a meeting of the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) yesterday that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) had not been concerned about supplies running short in the event that the UK had departed from the EU without a deal on 31 October.

The threat of a no-deal Brexit was lifted earlier this week after the European Commission agreed to extend the UK’s membership of the EU beyond the end of this month.

Villiers said: “We were confident that in the event of a no deal, existing chemical supplies would be available.

“In terms of key risk areas, we believe that maintenance of appropriate supply of chemicals was in shape.”

Committee chair Mary Creagh said only a six-week supply exists. Nearly three quarters of the chemicals, which perish rapidly, come from three EU member states – Germany, Belgium and France

Villiers told the committee that the political declaration, which maps out the future relationship between the EU and the UK government, envisages future co-operation with the trading bloc’s Reach compliance regime for water quality.

But she stopped short of saying that the government will “definitely” seek associate membership of Reach.

Villiers also said the government would look at additional wording in the Environment Bill to enshrine the independence of the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) when the legislation undergoes detailed scrutiny.

“There is no doubt that this is an organisation that will take its own decisions and there is no power within government to direct it in anyway,” she added,

Her appearance before the committee took place the day after parliament passed the second reading of the Environment Bill, the legislation which will set up the OEP.