06 Feb 2025

The government has announced the members of the new advisory group to the independent water commission, chaired by Sir Jon Cunliffe. Sir Chris Whitty (Chief Medical Officer), Richard Benwell (CEO, Wildlife & Countryside Link), Professor Isabelle Durance (Professor of Integrated Water Sciences at Cardiff University) and Peter Harrison (former CEO, Schroders) are among the nine members advising […]

06 Feb 2025

Defra has announced a consultation on the formation of a Land Use Framework for England. According to the government, “new sophisticated data on how land is used will underpin the Government’s Plan for Change, supporting economic growth through building 1.5 million homes and delivering critical infrastructure, securing clean power, protecting farmland and restoring the natural […]

22 Jan 2025

According to reports in the media, the Treasury is seeking to keep water firm fines earmarked for sewage cleanups. Reported in The Guardian, the Treasury is in discussions about keeping the money to use it for unrelated purposes at a time of huge pressure on the public finances and rising debt interest costs.   Photo […]

22 Jan 2025

Progress towards improving the environment has slowed with government still largely off track in achieving its legal environmental commitments, the latest annual assessment by the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has found. The OEP report provides an assessment of progress towards legally-binding environment targets, commitments and goals. The report covers the period 1 April 2023 […]

16 Jan 2025

The Guardian reports that Downing Street has blocked plans to release wild beavers in England because officials view it as a “Tory legacy”, the Guardian can reveal.   Photo credit: Pierre Miyamoto   Natural England, the government’s nature watchdog, has drawn up a plan for reintroductions of the rodent, which until about 20 years ago had been […]

31 Dec 2024

Just before Christmas, the government (Defra and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) published a Planning Reform Working Paper. The paper invites views on the government’s proposed new approach to development and nature recovery. It forms part of a series of working papers on different aspects of planning reform, designed to inform further […]

31 Dec 2024

A complete ban on use of bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides has moved a step closer after the government set out its plans to deliver a key election pledge. Despite being banned from general use in the UK, the last government authorised the use of neonicotinoids every year for the last four years in England via a […]

19 Dec 2024

The government has confirmed that water customers around the country will benefit from significantly higher payments to compensate them for water company service failures.   Photo credit: Ekaterina Belinskaya   Following public consultation, new and increased compensation will be compulsory for water companies to pay to customers and businesses in the event of issues like water […]