The government has declared that some areas of England now are officially in a state of drought.

Craig Bennett of Friends of the Earth told John Humphrys that many water companies had improved their water management but the government has "completely failed to up its game" on droughts.

The government, he said, needed to put the "long term measures in place to have a strategic response to this".

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman said the coalition were planning a water white paper which "really concentrates on how to prioritise water supplies" and builds a "sustainable" water system.

"One of the things we have to work out is how to build resilience in the face of big challenges like climate change," she said.

"We need to put I before E. We need to make sure we have the infrastructure before expansion."

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