Bob Earll & Bruce Horton: The current challenges facing Defra are without precedent, not least the uncertainty over Brexit and its colossal workload. So the ENDS report suggesting further delays to the 25 year plan ‘framework’ (i.e. no detail) is hardly surprising. Business planning 101 would tell us that at times of massive uncertainty long term planning is very difficult. The strategic policy statement to Ofwat and a presentation on this by Defra’s Floods and Water Director Sarah Hendry is informative.

‘ENDS report – DEFRA kicks 25-year environment plan further down the road’

By Isabella Kaminski, 4 April 2017 14:44 BST

The long-awaited draft framework for a 25-year environment plan is not being published in its current form, ENDS has learned   I wonder what their source is? You’ll need to subscribe to read this.

Defra’s strategic policy statement to Ofwat highlights securing long-term resilience and protecting customers as key priorities for the water industry. With little acknowledgment of climate change and no mention of carbon, the main focus is on water companies reducing the long-term risk to water supply and to ensure their infrastructure is resilient. The statement also asks Ofwat to encourage the sustainable use of natural capital by water companies. Views are invited by 11 April.

Meanwhile, Defra’s Floods and Water Director  Sarah Hendry told the Institute of Water Environment conference (see below) that water companies must step up to the four key challenges of population growth, ageing infrastructure, environmental degradation and climate change in building resilience and protecting vulnerable customers. This includes promoting water efficiency and partnership working at local level, which will be a key principle of the forthcoming 25-year plan for the environment. 

Building resilience and protecting vulnerable customers are the government’s top two priorities for the water sector, Sarah Hendry, Director, Floods & Water at Defra told the Institute of Water Environment conference.

Long-term resilience is a particularly crucial requirement which is why the government set out its thinking in the resilience roadmap published last year, Hendry told the event in Birmingham on Thursday (March 16th). Water companies must step up to the four key challenges of population growth, ageing infrastructure, environmental degradation and climate change, she said.

Promoting water efficiency is the best immediate way of mitigating the effects of population growth and water stress, but bringing about voluntary behaviour change customers is often the preferable way of achieving this. “We need to think about not only forcing people to do things, but nudging them to do so,” said Hendry. Where new infrastructure is required, the government would make sure that important projects enjoyed a smoother path to planning consents through National Policy Statements (NPSs). “This is an example of how regulation can remove obstacles to getting things done,” said Hendry. The first ever National Infrastructure Assessment, to be completed in 2018, would clarify this approach still further.

Hendry restated Defra’s commitment to producing a 25-year plan for the environment, and added that water companies could play their part in this by working and co-operating with local stakeholders. “A key principle of the plan will be working locally, particularly at a catchment level, and partnership working. We need real local leadership. The aim will be to make sure that everyone appreciates the value of the environment in their local area.” She described exiting the EU as “an opportunity to take a look in the round at what we want our environment to be.” Click here to read more.

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