Other stories from last week

(by Karma Loveday)

South East Water has indicated a slightly improved water resource situation in the parts of Sussex in severe drought (Haywards Heath and Eastbourne). A statement said the immediate need to introduce any new usage restrictions has receded in light of recent rainfall, abstraction licence changes and the existing hosepipe ban. 

Energy & Utility Skills and the Department for Work and Pensions have launched a new sector entry programme which connects confirmed employer vacancies with people looking for work. A typical programme lasts a minimum of ten days and includes five days of training selected by the employer, three days of work experience, a day of interview preparation and a day for interviews. Every candidate taking part receives a guaranteed job interview. The new programme will fund up to 1,000 sector entrant opportunities in England between November 2026 and December 2027. It follows pilots at M Group and Murphy Group.

Campaigner River Action is backing a legal claim brought by two River Thames users against Richmond Council about sewage pollution. The claimants argue the council failed to properly investigate a complaint of statutory nuisance they lodged in 2025.

MOSL has confirmed that the Market Performance Framework (MPF) reform programme is now complete. Commenting on the milestone, Adam Richardson, market development director, said: “The programme to reform the MPF has been one of the most significant changes to the business retail market since it opened in 2017. Following the reforms the framework is now simpler, more effective and better focused on the activities that have the biggest impact on customer outcomes: reading meters, the quality of data and how service requests are managed by wholesalers and retailers. The reform programme has been an enormous market-wide effort over four years, with five major consultations and thousands of hours working with trading party subject matter experts on various advisory groups. We are extremely grateful to everyone involved for their input and challenge.”

Biodiversity net gain (BNG) became mandatory for nationally significant infrastructure projects, (NSIPs) for applications submitted from 2 November 2026. Defra said its June NSIP BNG statements now have the same effect as if they were included in a National Policy Statement. 

Intelligent Water, a water retailer in the Scottish market, has secured a £3.5m finance facility from Beach Point Capital UK to support its growth. Launched in 2021, Intelligent Water has a turnover of £8m and serves almost 4,000 Scottish customers. Its five-year growth strategy targets £18m of turnover. 

Water Plus has secured a silver CSR Excellence Award from The CSR Society. This was in recognition of a suite of initiatives, including: funding 620 hours of work by youth support coordinators with the Teenage Cancer Trust; backing a community women’s football league; restoring peatland and seagrass as part of a carbon reduction programme; and promoting core water efficiency messages and services. 

SES Water has relaunched its Catchment Fund, which offers financial support to farmers and landowners to take actions to protect water quality at source. This round is focused on two priority catchments: the Brewer Street groundwater catchment and the River Eden surface water catchment. Grants of up to £5k are available for farm actions, and up to £1k for training or professional development courses.

42% of organisations expect water-related risk to have a high financial impact on their supply chains over the next five to ten years, but only 12% consider themselves fully prepared for this. That’s according to Weather proofing your supply chain – research from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) among 500 of its members. Asked how they could improve preparedness for water-related risks, respondents prioritised stronger business continuity and disruption response planning (40%), investment in physical and operational resilience (35%), and better assessment of suppliers' exposure to water risks (29%). ACCA also made suggestions on how organisations can start to take action.