Consultation outcome

River basin planning: working together 2024: consultation response

Updated 15 August 2025

Foreword

River basin management plans provide a framework to guide how we protect and improve our waters across England. These plans set out legally binding environmental objectives and consider broader environmental strategies such as land use planning and flood risk management. The ‘working together’ consultation is the first step in updating the river basin management plans.

The ‘working together’ statement outlines the statutory steps and consultation measures that the Environment Agency must undertake to update the river basin management plans. It also sets out the proposed timetable for reviewing and updating the plans, and the ways that everyone can get involved.

We would like to thank all respondents for taking the time to contribute to the ‘working together’ statement through the consultation process. We will use this information to help shape update of the river basin management plans.

Consultation summary

River basin management plans were last published in December 2022. We, the Environment Agency, have now begun the process of reviewing and updating the next cycle plans. This is a statutory process and involves three public consultation steps. The statutory deadlines for launching these consultations are:

• 22 December 2024 for the working together consultation
• 22 December 2025 for the significant water management issues consultation
• 22 December 2026 for the draft updated river basin management plans consultation

The statutory deadline for publication of updated plans is 22 December 2027.

Working together is the first consultation in the process of reviewing and updating the river basin management plans for 2027. It was launched a month before the statutory deadline and ran between 14 November 2024 and 14 May 2025.

We are starting this process knowing that the legislation that sets out how river basin planning and other aspects of the water management in England might change following the conclusion of the independent commission into the water sector. We know that whatever changes happen, we will still want to work closely with water stakeholders to understand the challenges, identify solutions and drive investment in our shared water environment.

The consultation set out the steps and consultation measures to be taken, the proposed timetable and the ways that everyone can get involved in preparing updated river basin management plans.

We sought views on:

• what other plans and strategies should be considered for next cycle of river basin management plans
• which organisations need to be involved
• how can we help respondents engage more in the process

We sent emails to over 350 people and organisations inviting them to participate in the consultation. We also placed advertising notices in 12 regional newspapers.

The consultation was available on our website, and we made hard copies available on request.

We encouraged staff and partners to raise awareness of the consultation with their networks and encouraged all to participate at catchment partnership events.

For more information on the river basin planning process, see the working together consultation pages.

We received 76 responses to the consultation from a wide range of stakeholders including water industry representatives, local authorities, catchment partnerships and rivers trusts.

You responded broadly under 3 themes:

• better alignment of governance and policy
• implementation and funding
• consultation and engagement improvements

Responses received to this consultation will inform the process of updating to the river basin management plans.

The next consultation in the update of the river basin management plans is the significant water management issues consultation later in 2025 (running for 6 months).

Consultation statistics

Summary of responses

We received 76 responses to the ‘working together’ consultation, the majority of which were submitted through the web-based consultation tool. Responses were received from a range of groups and individuals, including the water industry, local authorities, farming industry, charity organisations and catchment partnerships.

You can find a list of all organisations that responded in the appendix.

Summary of consultation responses for each river basin district

Responses to the ‘working together’ consultation ranged from those relevant to the whole of England and some cross-border river basin districts (RBDs), to others which were specific to a geographic area.

49% of the responses applied to all the RBDs partially or wholly within in England. 13% of responses related to specific RBDs and their surrounding districts and 32% applied to just one RBD.

Figure 1: River basin district the response applies to

	Number of responses
All river basin districts	37
One river basin district	24
One river basin district and those surrounding it	10
Not answered	5
Total	76

Origin of responses

Figure 2 shows from which river basin district responses were received. Most of the responses came from Thames and South West RBDs (13), followed by Humber (10) and the least from Severn (5). Three respondents did not answer this question.

Figure 2: Origin of response

RBDs	Number of responses
Anglian	8
Humber	10
North West	9
Severn	5
South East	9
South West	13
Thames	13
Not answered	3
Not applicable	6
Total	76

Method of response submission

Most responses (73) were submitted online through the web-based consultation tool, 2 were submitted through the Environment Agency’s National Customer Contact Centre (NCCC) and one response was emailed directly.

Who responded

The 76 responses received were from a wide range of both organisations and individuals. These are summarised in the table 2.

Table 2: People or organisations which responded

Organisation type	Number of responses
Catchment partnership	14
Charity and community group	7
Individual	13
Local authority	16
Navigation or port authority	4
Other organisations	10
Rivers trust	4
Water or utility company	5

Responses to consultation questions

Other plans or strategies

Question 1: Are there any other plans or strategies relevant to the updating of the river basin management plans not mentioned here or in the current river basin management plans?

• 74% (56 responses) said yes
• 12% (9 responses) said no
• 9% (7 responses) were unsure
• 5% of the responses did not record any answer

Figure 3: Inclusion of all necessary plans and strategy

	Number of responses
Yes	56
No	9
Not sure	7
Not answered	4
Total	76

Detailed responses to question 1

You highlighted various plans and strategies as relevant to updating the river basin management plans. This included things such as local nature recovery strategies, eel management plans, salmon implementation plans, flood risk management plans, nutrient management plans and the land-use framework, among others.

You highlighted the need to:

• align river basin management plans with these other plans and strategies
• explore collaborative delivery of environmental outcomes
• implement a single, long-term planning framework
• address the decline in fish species and prioritise nature recovery

Organisations that should be involved with updating RBMPs

Question 2: Have we identified all those who need to be involved in updating the river basin management plans? If you think a relevant organisation is not involved, please tell us.

Of the 76 responders 33 said we had not; 24 said we had, 17 responders were not sure, and 2 did not answer.

Figure 4: Identification of agencies involved

	Number of responses
No	33
Yes	24
Not sure	17
Not answered	2
Total	76

Response to Question 2

You highlighted the importance of involving:

• both the county council and the local planning authority
• businesses impacted by water quality, as well as organisations that benefit from healthy river systems
• local experts to shape catchment-specific measures

You said when updating the plans we should:

• clearly identify the stakeholders involved
• engage both local communities and the public

There were also comments that are relevant to any future water framework, that we will share with policy makers, on the need to:

• clarify the future role of river basin management plans following the potential devolution of the water sector
• clarify scope of involvement of regional bodies in planning
• keep all arrangements consistent with the principles of fair and proportionate regulation
• make multi-year, sufficient funding available to catchment partnerships for effective planning and sustained impact
• improve funding models to ensure consistency and adequate resourcing across all regions 

Organisations that you told us are important to be involved in updating the river basin management plans:

• academic and research institutions
• agriculture and land management agencies
• business and industry
• community and citizen engagement groups
• environmental and conservation groups
• government agencies and regulators

Improving engagement in river basin planning 

Question 3: What would help you to engage with the process of updating the river basin management plans?

The responses to this question have been themed under 3 broad headings.

Governance and policy alignment

You expressed a need to broaden the planning scope by considering additional strategies and policy areas, for instance by reinstating River Basin District Liaison Panels and the need to align with the recommendations of recent and ongoing government reviews and the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. You told us that we need to consider plans and strategies, such as those relating to biodiversity net gain, marine management, farming rules and local feasibility studies.

Implementation and funding

You said there is a need to implement a single long-term environmental regulatory and planning framework, as opposed to separate frameworks for different statutory processes.

You said there are opportunities to better involve businesses and organisations in securing better outcomes for water. Direct engagement with communities and local action groups, including those involved in citizen science and on-the-ground restoration projects, must be strengthened to ensure updated river basin management plans reflect local knowledge and needs.

You also raised questions about the implications of the Independent Water Commission published 21 July 2025 and the need for the river basin management plan process to bring together a broad range of stakeholders around a unifying vision for river basins and catchments.

Consultation and engagement improvements

You suggested how the consultation process could be improved, including the publication of timetables well in advance and demonstrating how previous planning cycles had been implemented and where they had been effective.

You also requested improvements to transparency and interactive data to help stakeholders evaluate river conditions, and fully costed improvements.

Next steps

Responses received to this consultation will inform the process of updating the river basin management plans. They will inform the next step in that process, the significant water management issues consultation, due for launch later in 2025. This consultation will focus on the key challenges the water environment faces. We encourage everyone to engage with this forthcoming consultation.

Appendix: List of organisations that responded 

Catchment Partnership

Bristol Avon Catchment Partnership (excluding Natural England and Environment Agency in this response)

Broadland Catchment Partnership

Connected by Water

Cornwall Catchment Partnership

Dales to Vale Rivers Network

Don, Dearne & Rother Network

Dorset Catchment Partnerships (not including the Environment Agency or Natural England)

Idle Catchment Partnership

Solent Forum, Coastal Partnership

Somerset Catchment Partnership

South Chilterns Catchment Partnership

South Cumbria Catchment Partnership

The Lower Mersey Catchment Partnership

West Cumbria Catchment Partnership

Charity or community group

Chesterfield Canal Trust

London Wildlife Trust

National Trust

Thames21

The Conservation Volunteers

Wilbraham River Protection Society

Stormwater Shepherds UK

Local authority

Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management team

Central Lincolnshire Local Plan Team

Dorset Council

East Hampshire District Council

East Suffolk Council

Lake District National Park Authority

Local Government Hammersmith & Fulham council

Maidstone Borough Council

Medway Council and the Lead Local Flood Authority

Nuneaton and Bedworth council

Rushmoor Borough Council

Sussex North Local Authorities

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council

Uttlesford District Council

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council

London Borough Havering

Navigation or port authority

Associated British Ports

Dart Harbour & Navigation Authority

Peel Ports Group Marine

Port of London Authority

Rivers trust

Calder Rivers Trust, Member Rivers Trust and Host of the Calder Catchment Partnership

Canal & River Trust

Don Catchment Rivers Trust

South East Rivers Trust

Water and utility company

South Staffs Water

Dwr Cymru Welsh Water

South West Water, Bournemouth Water, Bristol Water, Sutton and East Surrey Water

Thames Water

Wessex Water

Others

Blueprint for Water

Catchment Sensitive Farming

Cotswolds National Landscape Board

Chemical Industries Association

Eastern Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority

Institute of Fisheries Management

Joint Environmental Programme (JEP)

National Farmers’ Union

Natural Resources Wales

Royal Yachting Association