Other stories from last week

(by Karma Loveday)

Water minister Emma Hardy has indicated that Defra may choose not to commence Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act. Responding to a written question in Parliament, she said the Government is committed to improving the implementation of sustainable drainage, and had already consulted on revising the National Planning Policy Framework. But: “Better delivery of SuDS may be achieved by continuing to improve the current planning policy-based approach and looking at ways of improving the approach to adoption and maintenance, rather than commencing Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.”

On Tuesday, environment secretary Emma Reynolds and DG for strategy and water David Hill will face questions on a range of topics that the EFRA Committee has examined in this Parliament. The 2.30pm oral evidence session will include scrutiny on the corporate leadership of water companies and the future of Thames Water.

Nationalisation of water was amongst the most popular policies in a poll by Persuasion UK which explored what an effective ‘cost of living populism’ retail offer might look like, and what the electoral potency of a cost of living populism offer might be when attached to the Labour Party. 

It found the most potent cost of living retail offer combined a clear offer on buses (eg £1 bus fare or free for u-25s), water re-nationalisation, rent control and sectoral bargaining. Persuasion UK said the electoral potential of such an offer is large, lifting Labour by 15 percentage points to 34% and 358 seats – a majority of 66 and a gain of 263 seats on the current status quo trajectory. 

Liberal Democrat MPs Tim Farron and Charlie Maynard presented the Water Regulation Bill to Parliament last week. The Bill called on the environment secretary to “undertake a review of the circumstances in which a special administration order may be made in respect of a water company; to make provision about the content and application of special administration orders; to make provision for the mutualisation of a water company in respect of which a special administration order has been made; to abolish the Water Services Regulation Authority; to establish a Clean Water Authority and to make provision about its powers and duties; to make provision about the collection and publication by water companies of data relating to volume flow; to require water companies to offer a social tariff; and for connected purposes.”

The Second Reading is scheduled for 4 December. 

River Action has asked the High Court to reconsider its decision – before a different judge – to refuse permission for judicial review to proceed in the campaigner’s challenge to the Government for failing to have or publish a clear policy explaining when it will use its powers to place a failing water company into a Special Administration Regime. River Action has also challenged the judge’s decision on costs, which was that these would not have qualified for cost protection under the Aarhus Convention, had the case been allowed to proceed. The campaigner said it expected a hearing later this year to determine the situation.

Business Stream has reported the Scottish public sector saved £4.4m in the last financial year under the Scottish Government’s Water and Wastewater Services Framework, a contract worth in excess of £240m. This is a significant increase on the previous year’s savings of £3m. The water supplier said this reflected growing engagement from public sector organisations, alongside the rollout of advanced technology and enhanced data visibility tools. 

The Environment Agency has secured an Enforcement Undertaking from Anglian Water that will see £275,000 go towards environmental improvement projects across Lincolnshire. This follows unauthorised discharge of sewage from Richmond Drive Terminal Pumping Station in August 2020 and non-compliance with permit conditions at Ingoldmells Water Recycling Centre in August 2020 and September 2022.