Question reference: S6W-00564
- Asked by: Sharon Dowey, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 8 June 2021
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Current status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 22 June 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce water pollution on beaches, in light of a recent survey, which suggested that seven out of the 10 of the UK beaches with the highest samples of E.coli and intestinal enterococci were in Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to reducing water pollution at beaches across Scotland.
We do not know what water quality data range was used by Save on Energy, a price comparison website, to support its claim. They do not reflect the Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s bathing water classifications, which use statutory methods that are used across the UK and all EU member states.
Four of the seven Scottish beaches listed with the highest E.coli and intestinal enterococci in the Save on Energy survey are classified by SEPA as having ‘sufficient’ or better bathing water quality with one of these being rated as ‘excellent’. The three other beaches are receiving significant investment from Scottish Water totalling £23M in order to improve bathing water quality.
This bathing water season Scotland has more bathing waters rated as ‘excellent’, ‘good’ or ‘sufficient’ than at any point since tighter bathing water standards first came into force in 2015.