Defra and the Welsh Government have laid the Bathing Water (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations 2025, updating the 2013 regime governing identification, monitoring and public information at designated bathing waters. Most provisions for England take effect on 21 November 2025, with the remaining designation‑test changes applying from 15 May 2026. The instrument was laid before the UK Parliament and Senedd on 28 October 2025 following a joint consultation concluded in March 2025.
Three changes frame the package. First, automatic removal from the bathing water list after five consecutive ‘poor’ classifications is replaced by a managed improvement route. Second, new checks must be considered before a site is designated. Third, ministers can set site‑specific bathing seasons rather than relying on a fixed national window.
On pre‑designation checks, the appropriate Minister must consider advice from the Environment Agency or Natural Resources Wales-following consultation with the relevant local authority-on whether a site can reasonably reach at least ‘sufficient’ classification. Where achieving that standard would be infeasible or disproportionately expensive, or where site risks are judged significant, the Minister should not designate. Welsh Ministers have described this as a feasibility assessment intended to target safe, sustainable sites.
The bathing season remains, by default, 15 May to 30 September, but ministers may now determine different seasons for individual waters where justified by local conditions. Determinations are made ahead of the applicable season, maintained on a public list and may be revoked before the next season begins. This moves policy to a managed, site‑specific timetable.
Public information duties are tightened. For each listed bathing water, ministers must publish the current classification and the applicable bathing season and actively disseminate that information online before 15 May each year, or earlier if a locally determined season starts sooner. This is designed to align signage and digital alerts with the official season timeline.
For persistently failing sites, the Regulations replace automatic de‑designation with a structured improvement process. After five consecutive years rated ‘poor’, the agency must advise ministers whether it is feasible, and not disproportionately expensive, to reach ‘sufficient’ within a specified period. Ministers may allow time‑limited improvement; if that route is rejected or not delivered, permanent advice against bathing must be issued.
Sampling rules during short‑term pollution are modernised. Agencies may disregard samples taken while an incident is ongoing, take a verification sample once it is presumed to have ended, and collect additional samples to ensure the minimum dataset for the season is met. This protects dataset integrity without over‑representing incident conditions.
During abnormal situations-such as exceptional weather or infrastructure failures-the monitoring calendar may be suspended for the duration of the event. Afterward, agencies should add sampling to reach the minimum seasonal requirement and may take further samples to replace those disregarded. Labelling and documentation steps are clarified so every bottle is clearly identified and traceable.
Annual reporting is updated. After the end of the latest bathing season that applies in England or Wales in any year, the responsible minister must prepare and publish a report on that season. This aligns the statutory report with the new ability to set site‑specific seasons.
The Regulations introduce a definition of ‘environmental protection measures’, covering activities to protect the natural environment from human activity, protect people from environmental harms caused by that activity, maintain or enhance environmental quality, and the enabling functions of monitoring, assessment, advice and reporting. This definition supports pre‑designation decisions and ongoing site management.
Operationally, local authorities should review current and prospective applications against the new feasibility requirement, plan for updated signage and digital notices reflecting any revised season dates, and agree incident protocols with water and sewerage companies so that minimum sample numbers are maintained. Site promoters preparing evidence for the 2026 season should ensure usage surveys and risk assessments address the strengthened criteria.
Next milestones are immediate. Defra indicates updated application guidance will be issued at the start of each season and has set 31 October 2025 as the deadline for applications to be considered for designation in the 2026 season-leaving two days from today to submit.