Oral QuestionMinistry of Defence

“If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.”

Tabled: 14 November 2023Answered: 20 November 2023

Answering Minister

the Secretary of State for Defence

Answer from Hansard

Emma Hardy

I am really proud that our country has world-leading drinking water quality—in fact, our PFAS standard of 0.1 micrograms per litre is among the tightest in the whole world. I completely accept the “polluter pays” principle, although that is quite challenging for PFAS, because much of it is historical contamination. We are now working through that to make the principle work effectively in practice, while acknowledging that it is sometimes very difficult to identify the original source of PFAS.