Three perspectives, Defra, The Guardian and the Insurance industry who are not happy! Belated recognition that earlier cuts were not the right direction. 1. Defra Announcement Defra ‘An extra £700m in flood defence funding will help deliver the government’s commitment to ensure communities are protected against increasingly extreme weather. ‘This comes on top of the […]
1. Enabling resilience in the water sector The Defra report is described as a roadmap which sets out how the policy framework will be enhanced during this Parliament to secure the long-term resilience of the water sector in dealing with pressures like climate change and a growing population. 2. Water supply and resilience and infrastructure: […]
Two flood management points from Defra 1. Water minister: flood defence needs private sector investment Water minister Rory Stewart has insisted private sector investment in flood defence is a “huge opportunity” that hasn’t been fully considered. Speaking to water firms at Water UK’s City Conference, Stewart said: “Clearly we ought to be smarter about thinking […]
It is all very well reminding people of the threat but this begs the questions of what Government is doing. A point that has not been missed by the NGO responses from Wildlife Link members – see below. Invasive species week Defra: The second annual Invasive Species Week starts on 29 February and will run […]
Two items the Defra plan and the Decc plan 2015-2020 – Important reading to signal the way the wind blows The Defra 2015-2020 plan Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs publishes its departmental plan for 2015-2020, outlining priority areas in flooding, air pollution and wildlife diversity The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs […]
Defra has today published a report by Eunomia on a pilot Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) project undertaken from 2014 – 2015 in the West of England. The project – one of five funded by Defra under its third round of PES Pilot projects – investigated the potential of changes in land management to tackle […]
Institute for Government – Analysis of Arms lengths bodies – One key theme of Liz Truss’s speech on modernising Defra was getting its various arm’s-length bodies (ALBs) and the main department to work in alignment. The Secretary of State would like the various organisations in the Defra departmental group to make plans around shared policies, […]
Water Briefing ‘The Department for Food Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) has now formally issued new charging guidance to Ofwat since it was laid in Parliament for consideration on 9 November 2015. The Guidance to the water sector regulator establishes the policy framework within which Ofwat sets charging rules for the water industry. Its purpose […]