15 Sep 2022

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs has launched a 12-week consultation on proposals for new water efficiency labelling to protect water supplies and cut energy bills. Based on 2019 prices, the label could save £125 million on water bills and £147 million on energy bills over 10 years, as well as 1,200 million […]

13 Sep 2022

On 1st September, Defra published a policy paper on Fisheries Management Plans for England. The Defra note stated: The draft joint fisheries statement listed 43 proposed FMPs. Some will be developed jointly by 2 or more fisheries policy authorities, whilst others will be developed by an authority for its own waters. The Joint Fisheries Statement will set out […]

08 Sep 2022

Defra have announced the projects that will receive funding from the Landscape Recovery Scheme. The initiative is being hailed by land managers and conservationists as the most “exciting and important” step in a generation to restore lost biodiversity. Projects include recreating water meadows in the Cotswolds, reviving eel-rich waterways in the Severn Valley, and restoring […]

06 Sep 2022

Concerned members of the public have joined forces with environmental activists to protest the over the mass deaths of marine life and pollution on the Teesside coast.     Tens of thousands of the crustaceans first washed up on shores from Seaton Carew down to Whitby in October 2021. Defra previously said it had “completed […]

06 Sep 2022

Defra has launched a consultation to gather evidence on the impact of fly seining in English waters to support sustainable fishing and reduce pressure on fish stocks, Fishing Daily has reported. Fly seining, also known as fly shooting or demersal seining, is a fishing method involving long weighted ropes to herd fish into the mouth […]

01 Sep 2022

UK Government launch Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction plan Defra have announced the new storm overflows discharge reduction plan, which sets stringent new targets to protect people and the environment. This will require water companies to deliver the largest infrastructure programme in water company history. As we have previously covered, the announcement follows a series of […]

01 Sep 2022

News outlets have reported that the UK government’s plan to cut millions of hours of raw sewage discharges by water companies each year is facing a judicial review on the grounds that it is unlawful. The conservationist charity WildFish is calling for the storm overflow reduction strategy, published on 26th August, to be withdrawn immediately, […]

10 Aug 2022

From Defra Consultation description We want to know what you think about Defra’s proposed changes to 11 specifications made under the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999. These regulations are needed to protect human health from contaminated drinking water. We need to update the specifications to reflect modern toilet designs. One change will introduce a […]