25 Jun 2024

A survey of 1,005 Scottish adults revealed 95.7% of those surveyed believe retaining control over UK fisheries is crucial. The Opinions Matters survey was commissioned by the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF). Additionally, 91% see fishing as vital to the UK economy, and 89.7% equate the importance of UK-produced food with energy. The poll highlights that […]

25 Jun 2024

Governments will meet at the United Nations HQ in New York this week to work on the UN Ocean Treaty, for the first time since it opened for signatures in September 2023. The Conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction treaty, also commonly known as the BBNJ or High […]

19 Jun 2024

With all the main parties having now published their manifestos, what are the priorities and what do they have to say about water regulation, industry reform? Labour Put water companies into ‘special measures’. Although there is no detail on what these measures might be, they could include Giving new powers to regulators to block water […]

19 Jun 2024

Ofwat has published an updated timetable and key milestones for its 2024 price determination (PR24), after the general election necessitated a delay due to purdah rules. The regulator said it would endeavour to issue final determinations on 19 December, but that it was exploring the option of extending this until 31 January at the latest. […]

19 Jun 2024

A recent BBC explainer looks at the evidence around so-called ‘dry spills’, claiming that “every major English water company has reported data suggesting they’ve discharged raw sewage when the weather is dry – a practice which is potentially illegal.” Anglian Water responded by publishing De-mystifying dry day spills, rejecting the claims and ‘citing flawed methodology […]

19 Jun 2024

The Environment Agency has successfully prosecuted Welsh Water Ltd for breaking conditions of an environmental permit at a sewage treatment works near Hereford between August 2020 and June 2021. At Worcester crown court on Friday 7 June, Welsh Water entered a guilty plea and were fined £90,000 for exceeding permitted levels of sewage effluent into […]

19 Jun 2024

Thames Water has opened its consultation on plans for SESRO (South East Strategic Reservoir Option) – a major new strategic reservoir in Oxfordshire. The proposals have been developed in conjunction with Southern Water and Affinity Water, as the reservoir is designed to secure future water supplies for all three company’s customers, a projected 15 million […]