18 Jul 2018
EA ‘The Environment Agency announced that water companies need to do more to protect the environment and published the annual Water Company Environmental Performance report highlighting that severe pollution incidents caused by water companies rose for the third year running last year. Although there has been a gradual improving trend in environmental performance over recent years, the […]
16 May 2018
Comment: A further step rippling from Labour’s threat to renationalise the water industry. MPs are sharpening their knives and even a cursory glimpse of the report on the collapse of Carillion will reveal a new appetite for highlighting boardroom greed. Carillion collapsed as a result of “recklessness, hubris and greed” among directors who put their […]
21 Feb 2018
The Environment Agency has warned that 86% of river water bodies in England failed to reach good ecological status in 2016 – and is calling on the water companies to do more. The warning comes in the Agency’s State of the Environment report on the water quality of rivers, estuaries, coasts and groundwater in England, published today. […]
10 Jan 2018
Gove – Oxford Farming conference speech on reform of agricultural subsidy. It is a long read but there is a clear series of statements on, “Paying for what we value” later on in the speech. “The principal public good we will invest in is of course environmental enhancement. In thinking about how better to support […]
06 Dec 2017
Following the consultation it initiated in 2015, Defra has released its conclusions on farming rules for water. Click here for a press notice, policy paper and overview of the rules. Defra’s documents outline the new rules and say that in essence: the rules cover both management of fertilisers and manure and management of soils; in […]
06 Dec 2017
Defra, the Environment Agency, Natural England and the Rural Payments Agency are developing a scheme under the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) called the Water Environment Grant (WEG) to fund improvements to the water environment. The proposed scheme is being designed to support delivery of projects that are currently funded through the Water Environment […]
15 Mar 2017
Defra publish strategic policy statement Water UK Communications: Defra publish their strategic policy statement for the water industry for consultation. This document sets out the government’s strategic priorities for Ofwat’s regulation of the water sector in England. We welcome the move to a more concise SPS which clearly highlights securing long-term resilience and protecting customers […]
16 Jan 2017
The Water, Energy & Food Nexus An array a high level inputs has informed a new report by the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology summarises current understanding of the interactions between water, energy and food production and examines how nexus approaches can be used to inform policy decisions. It says that failure to take […]
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