Policy paper

Water abstraction plan: Abstraction licensing service

Updated 27 July 2021

This was published under the 2016 to 2019 May Conservative government

Part of the water abstraction plan

This document provides further information on the planned reforms to the abstraction licensing service set out in the abstraction plan. It should be read alongside the abstraction plan and supplementary sections on ‘environment’ and ‘catchment focus’.

1. The challenge

The current abstraction management service is outdated. We want to modernise it to enhance and expand the range of digital services available and simplify regulatory requirements. This will underpin work to improve both the environment and access to water by providing a modern and simple service for abstractors.

2. Basic approach

Our approach has two elements. We will:

• modernise the water resources licensing service by upgrading the systems that it depends on and moving paper-based licences into a digital format
• modernise regulations by moving water resources licensing into the environmental permitting regulations (EPR) and making sure all significant abstractors are regulated

3. Modernising the water resources licensing service

The current licensing service offers limited online functionality on www.gov.uk as set out below.

Element of the service	Online service?	How it works
Applications for licences	Limited	Information about making an application is available online Abstractors can download and print out application forms to then submit by post or email (but emailing supporting information can be difficult if file sizes are too large). Applicants and existing abstractors can also contact the Environment Agency by phone and request paper version of relevant forms.
Paying application fees	No	Application fees are paid by credit card, cheque or via an invoice.
Amendments to licences	Limited	Existing licence holders can download forms to apply to amend their licences, and again submit by post or email.
Paying licence charges	No	Information about charges is available online, but charges cannot be paid online.
Providing details about the volume of water abstracted	Limited	Most licence holders are required to provide records of abstraction. Many abstractors already provide these electronically, but there remain opportunities to improve the way this works and to increase efficiency and uptake.
Managing a licence	No	Abstractors cannot view, amend or pay for their licences online.
Trading licences	No	Those looking to trade licences, such as farmers wanting additional water for their crops, cannot easily access information to help them know who they might trade with.

4. The future upgraded digital service

The digital upgrade will improve some existing services and introduce new functionality. When the upgrade is fully completed, abstractors will be able to:

• apply for licences and pay application fees for licences online
• apply to amend an existing licence online
• view licences and manage selected licence information online, such as changing contact details
• submit online reports of the volumes of water abstracted
• access real-time information on river flows or groundwater levels to determine when they can abstract their licensed water
• apply to trade water

Some of these upgrades are relatively straightforward administrative improvements designed to save time and reduce regulatory burden. Others underpin our broader goals of better protecting the environment and improving access to water.

Improvements to the availability of information on river flows and groundwater levels is an example of the links between our service upgrade and our wider goals. Many abstraction licences include requirements to reduce or cease abstraction at particular river flows, river levels or groundwater levels. We want to improve the availability and usability of this information to make it easier and quicker for abstractors to comply with their licences and help them improve the way they plan their water use. Improved compliance will bring environmental improvements and better planning will help abstractors make the most of the water available.

A modern and responsive licensing system is also essential to support water trading. By providing clear information on potential trading partners and by reducing the time it takes to make a trade, modernisation will make trading easier and therefore improve access to water.

4.1 Timings for the upgraded digital service

In March 2018 we launched the Water Resources Licensing Service, a digital tool allowing abstractors to view their licences online. With this tool abstractors can view the information on their water abstraction or impoundment licences by creating an online account.

Abstractors can also:

• check their licence start and end dates
• check their points and periods of abstraction
• give other people access to view their licence information
• submit their water usage online

Creating an enhanced digital service will make it quicker and easier for abstractors to apply for, vary and manage abstraction permits.

4.2 Benefits of an upgraded digital service

An enhanced digital service will reduce regulatory costs by making it quicker and easier to apply for, vary and manage abstraction permits. This will be of benefit to all abstractors and particularly useful for organisations who have a large number of permits to manage. It will allow these organisations to keep track of permits at a glance instead of working with aged paper-based abstraction licences, as some do now.

Communication with abstractors will be clearer, enabling abstractors to better manage their flow and level-based controls. This will help facilitate extra abstraction at high flows when it is available. It will also ensure that, when flows or levels are low, environmental protection is introduced quickly and effectively and relaxed just as quickly when they recover. A digital system will also make it easier to trade the right to abstract. Holding the abstraction conditions online will make it quicker and easier for the regulator to check that trades will not damage the environment and then approve them.

4.3 Delivering the digital upgrade

The digital upgrade is part of the Defra Group Digital Transformation programme. The Environment Agency is developing the service in partnership with the world-leading Cabinet Office Government Digital Service (GDS). Testing the product with customers is central to its design methodology and occurs at every stage of development. This will make sure that the upgrades will meet the needs of the people using the system.

The Environment Agency will introduce the digital service in phases. This will allow it to add further functionality only after the previous stage has been fully tested. The phased approach will also allow abstractors to adjust to the change gradually.

4.4 Accessing the digital service

We understand that, while a digital service offers great opportunity, it does not always work for everyone. For example, it can be a particular problem for those with intermittent internet access or poor mobile reception. To make sure that the licensing system is available to all, abstractors will still be able to have a printed version of their permit and will be able to contact the Environment Agency by phone, email, post, or face to face.

Environment Agency staff will be able to guide a user through the digital service or enter the user’s information into the service on their behalf. This is known as an assisted digital service and is standard practice for government digital work.

5. Modernising abstraction regulations

Historically, environmental licensing regulations have developed independently of each other. This means that they have taken different approaches that reflect either the type of activity being regulated or the approach to regulation at the time they were developed. This has led to a variety of approaches to controlling different types of regulated activity, even where they take place on the same site. This evolutionary approach has led to duplication and complexity that can be a burden for users.

5.1 The environmental permitting regulations

The environmental permitting regulations (EPR) regime was originally set up in 2007, and was expanded in 2010 and 2015. It comprises a set of common definitions, processes and controls to permit activities that could cause pollution and flood risk. It has brought previously separate regulated activities under a single permitting regime and introduced a consistent approach to regulation.

Despite operating through a common framework of definitions, procedures and controls, EPR accommodates approaches specific to different types of activities. The regulations have developed over time as different activities have been introduced. This means that the single, transparent approach to regulation still allows for the unique nature of each activity covered. In short, the EPR framework is flexible and will be adapted to accommodate water resources licensing.

Many abstraction licence holders also hold environmental permits for other regulated activities. This means they have to operate under different definitions, processes and controls for different activities. In contrast, under EPR, businesses can have one consolidated environmental permit covering all relevant activities on a single site and then use standard, familiar processes should they wish to amend their permit. This has rationalised the permitting framework to make it easier to understand and use.

Abstraction and impoundment licensing is currently regulated under a system set up originally in the 1960s and amended through subsequent legislation. It therefore has its own set of definitions, processes and controls developed over 50 years, which are different from those operated through EPR.

5.2 Moving abstraction and impoundment regulation into EPR

Government took action through the Water Act 2014 to enable abstraction and impounding licensing to be brought into EPR through secondary legislation. We will use this power to help facilitate streamlining of administrative functions for many businesses and the regulator.

We expect the move to EPR to take place in 2023. We are not proposing to make changes to conditions on existing abstraction and impounding licences during this move. Permit holders will have equivalent permits on day one of EPR to those licences they had the day before.

We recognise that abstractors may have concerns about the move to EPR. We plan to consult on the proposed detail of the move in September 2021. From spring 2018 we will start engaging with current licence holders to discuss and explain EPR, how it operates on a day to day basis, and to understand fully how we can make the move to EPR as straightforward as possible.

6. Ending significant exemptions from the current licensing system

As part of our planned modernisation we will end significant exemptions from the abstraction licensing system. We will regulate around 5,000 significant abstractions currently outside of the system. This compares to around 20,000 abstractors that are licensed. Abstractions that will be licensed include:

• all forms of irrigation (other than spray irrigation, which is already licensable)
• transferring water from one inland water to another by navigation authorities
• abstraction of water into internal drainage districts but not including land drainage activities
• dewatering mines, quarries and engineering works
• some area based exemptions
• most abstraction by the Crown

Having significant abstractions exempt from regulation is unfair and allows some abstractors to put growing pressure on the environment without any controls, while licence holders face restrictions to address environmental pressures from abstraction alone. Ending exemptions will therefore improve the Environment Agency’s ability to manage water abstraction.

In recognition that these are existing lawful abstraction we are taking a light-touch approach to licensing. The Environment Agency will grant licences based on current use, with some protection for rivers during very low flows, while only curtailing or refusing abstractions in a small minority of cases where there is a risk of serious damage to the environment.

In October 2017 government published a response to its 2016 consultation, which gives more detail on how we will end the exemptions.

The application window for the previously exempt abstractors opened in January 2018 and will close in December 2019. The Environment Agency will then have up to December 2022 to determine all the applications.

7. Reviewing abstraction charges

The Environment Agency is considering whether to reform its charging schemes so that charges are financially sustainable, equitable and transparent and work better for business and the environment.