22 Jan 2025
The Environment Agency Chief Regulator, Dr Jo Nettleton, has called for the environmental regulation framework to be reformed in order to help better protect people and the environment and enable businesses to grow. The Chief Regulator’s newly-created role is to hold the Environment Agency to account in delivering its regulatory activities and to champion best […]
16 Jan 2025
Useful article in New Civil Engineer Water industry experts have expressed dismay at the news that mandatory sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) for developments over 100m2 is not being introduced, despite the Department for Food, Rural Affairs and Environment’s (Defra’s) promise. Despite the government saying that Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 would […]
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 […]
06 Nov 2024
A report by sustainability think tank the Institute for European Environmental Policy UK (IEEP UK) looks at the implications of diverging wastewater policy between the UK and the EU. Photo credit: Joseph Russo EU law concerning collection and treatment of wastewater (sewage) has been dominated by the 1991 Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive. […]
30 Oct 2024
Following last week’s announcement of an Independent Commission into the water sector and its regulation, Defra has published the Terms of Reference. The government says the “sector should become one of growth and opportunity, which will restore our rivers, lakes and seas to good health, deliver a resilient and efficient water supply in the face […]
23 Oct 2024
Defra has announced the launch of an Independent Commission into the water sector and its regulation, in what is expected to form the largest review of the industry since privatisation. The Commission forms the next stage in the Government’s long-term approach to ensuring we have a sufficiently robust and stable regulatory framework to attract the […]
16 Oct 2024
The privatised English water system has been singled out for criticism by the UN special rapporteur on the human right to clean water. Photo by Nick Vasin Prof Pedro Arrojo-Agudo said water systems should be managed as a publicly owned service, rather than run by private companies set up to benefit shareholders. The […]
25 Sep 2024
The government has accepted that not enough progress has been made in improving the water environment in England. The admission came in response to the Office for Environmental Protection’s (OEP) report on the implementation of the Water Framework Directive regulations and River Basin Management Planning. Defra’s response recognises that “The government agrees that there has […]
