The sampling frequency for drinking water is set out in Schedule 3 of The Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2016 including which parameters are sampled at which point in the system, with some variation depending on factors such as treatment chemicals used, population served, etc.

There is also a requirement to monitor for anything else which may present a risk to health. The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) ensures that these requirements are met by companies, and may on occasion increase the sampling frequency if a specific risk is under investigation.

The DWI published a report on 26 February 2025 recommending revisions to some parameters listed in the drinking water regulations. The report is the output of work by an advisory group of specialists both UK and internationally. Defra and the DWI will work together to consider potential regulatory updates to England’s drinking water quality legislation based on the recommendations.

The Government’s second statutory Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23), published on 31st January 2023, builds on the Government’s commitment to leave the environment in a better state than we found it. It sets out the actions that will drive us towards reaching our long-term environmental targets and goals, including improving and protecting soil health.

This is aided by substantial new Government investment over three years towards delivering the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) Programme. Soil monitoring as part of the NCEA programme will yield valuable new data to improve understanding of national soil condition, including soil microbial activity, and set up long-term monitoring capability to track change over time.

We do not hold this information.

The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including on the microbiome/microbota. It is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.

The evidence on the use of microbiota to improve diagnosis for a range of conditions is currently the subject of active research. The NIHR has directly funded and supported research studies on the microbiota and microbiome totalling £23.8 million in since 2011/12.

The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including diagnosis for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and fibromyalgia. It is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.

Diagnosing both ME/CFS and fibromyalgia can be difficult as there is no specific diagnostic test that can be used, and the symptoms can vary from person to person. Diagnosis is usually made by taking a medical history, checking symptoms and carrying out a physical examination. Other tests may be used to rule out medical conditions with similar symptoms. The NIHR has funded projects on ME/CFS and fibromyalgia totalling £4.3 million in the last five years (£2.5 million for ME/CFS and £1.8 million for fibromyalgia) some of which relate to educating general practitioners about diagnosis.

‘Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance (2019-2024): the UK’s five-year national action plan’ includes the commitment to assess current and future workforce needs to ensure capability and capacity for strong infection prevention and control and antimicrobial stewardship. The assessment will cover a range of roles, including microbiology. The results of the assessment will be used to develop further workforce targets.

The NHS England Long Term Plan makes the commitment to implement the human health aspects of the national action plan.

United Kingdom Standards for Microbiology Investigations (UK SMIs) B 37: Investigation of blood cultures (for organisms other than Mycobacterium species) are developed by the UK SMI Working Groups under the auspices of Public Health England. SMI B 37 describes the processing and microbiological investigation of blood cultures and aims to set standards for each stage of the investigative process. These can then be used as a benchmark to audit against by certification and accreditation bodies if they wish.

The UK SMIs are not mandatory and there is no legal obligation to follow the recommendations in UK SMIs. In using UK SMIs, laboratories should take account of local requirements and undertake additional investigations where appropriate.

UK SMIs are National Institute for Health and Care Excellence accredited and represent a good standard of practice. NHS England has included compliance with UK SMIs in the National Health Service Standard Contract 2017-18.

NHS Improvement is leading the transformational changes in pathology services across England, with the formation of 29 Pathology Networks serving England well underway. These networks will realise an improved quality of service, timely access to diagnostic results and access to expert clinical advice in this very diverse clinical specialty.

One of the most significant benefits of this reconfiguration will be to increase the availability of microbiology services, so vital in the diagnosis of life threatening conditions such as sepsis. Currently not all microbiology services are available 24/7 and access to state of the art equipment is variable.

The establishment of networked pathology services will allow for best practice to be deployed across trusts, not only allowing for 24/7 services and faster access to targeted treatment, but also ensuring the latest technology such as molecular genetic testing is available to more patients. To support this development, this year the Government announced £61.5 million to develop the laboratory and IT infrastructure needed to monitor and review results and systems from any point in the network.

NHS Improvement are also working closely with the Office of Life Sciences to ensure digitisation and deployment of artificial intelligence is built in to ensure maximum benefit to the National Health Service and patient outcomes as these technologies develop.

These transformational changes are being performed with the full engagement of the pathology professional bodies and working with the Department’s procurement category tower 8 to improve the purchasing power and choice of equipment to the NHS.

We recognise the need for expert advice at national level on microbiological issue and are now reviewing the optimum means of ensuring this within the new public health structures. Discussions focusing on the inspector of microbiology’s functions will take place later this month. In the mean time, microbiological advice will be provided by experts at Public Health England.

The advice of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) is that the most important risks to public health from illegally imported bushmeat are those associated with well known food borne pathogens such as Salmonella, rather than exotic organisms. Food borne pathogens will be destroyed by thorough cooking.

A study commissioned by the FSA in 2005 considered the microbiological risks associated with the illegal import of bushmeat into the United Kingdom. The study concluded that the risk of food borne illnesses from consumption of bushmeat appeared to be:

‘very low, and that the risk of food borne illnesses from cross-contamination was also minimal’.

This study was presented to the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food who agreed with its findings.

The department plans to discuss with the NHS Commissioning Board and Public Health England how to cover the inspector of microbiology and infection control’s functions in future.