(by Karma Loveday) Defra has published its first Strategic Policy Statements (SPSs) for the Environment Agency (EA) and Natural England (NE), which include guidance on enacting the ‘constrained discretion’ advised by the Independent Water Commission. The statements are non-statutory but intended to complement statutory objectives and duties for each regulator. Principally, they set out the environment secretary’s expectations on how to deliver on both nature recovery and econ

(by Karma Loveday) On Friday, the High Court dismissed River Action’s application for judicial review against Ofwat for allegedly allowing some customers to pay twice for infrastructure improvements. River Action claimed Ofwat acted unlawfully when it implemented its policy that customers must not pay twice. The clean river campaigner said that in effect, some households would pay for infrastructure improvements to achieve environmental compliance, which should have been fund

(by Karma Loveday) Ofwat is consulting until 7 April on its decision to approve a code change that would explicitly oblige wholesalers to work with customer-appointed third parties on data logger matters. CPW161 explained: “Evidence included with the proposal indicates that when third parties [appointed by customers] approach wholesalers for permission to install data loggers, they have found that some wholesalers avoid working with third parties on data loggers and metering

(by Karma Loveday) Chief medical officer Sir Chris Whitty has accepted a commission to chair the Public Health Water Taskforce promised in the Water White Paper. Defra’s director general for strategy and water David Hill told the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee in a session on ‘Work of the department and its arms length bodies’ that the taskforce is “looking at the evidence base underpinning public health in relation to water, both bathing waters and drinking w

(by Verity Mitchell) Ofwat has published a report, Economic impact of water supply infrastructure investment , which argues that investment in major capital projects in water supply drives economic growth. Working with KPMG, Ofwat set out to prove how the proposed £50bn investment in strategic water resource options will provide economic benefit to England and Wales by quantifying the Gross Value Added (GVA) of water supply investment. Across the UK economy, GVA analysis prov

(by Karma Loveday) The utilities sector is facing a potential mass exodus of strategic communications talent across organisations — including suppliers, networks, regulators and trade bodies — at a time when effective public engagement, transparency and trust-building have never been more critical. That’s according to new research from specialist recruitment firm Murray McIntosh. Its Strategic Communications Report 2026 collated the results of a survey of 3,200+ professional

(by Karma Loveday) Source control measures such as product bans and phase-outs, alongside upgrades to the treatment process, are successfully reducing hazardous substances in water systems. That’s according to latest findings from UK Water Industry Research’s (UKWIR) Chemical Investigations Programme (CIP), which is a long-running industry/regulator monitoring and research partnership. The CIP3 Trend Monitoring Project (2020-2025) showed downward trends in concentrations for

(by Verity Mitchell) Ofwat has proposed a £44m enforcement order against Welsh Water. This followed an investigation that concluded that Welsh Water has breached its legal obligations to adequately maintain and upgrade its wastewater network and treatment plants. Ofwat also found that the senior management and board had failed to ensure that assets were performing satisfactorily, and that there have been insufficient monitoring processes and oversight in place. The penalty wi

(by Verity Mitchell) EQT, a Swedish private equity group, has bought a 42% stake in Kelda Holdings, the Jersey-registered parent company of Yorkshire Water, at an undisclosed premium to regulatory capital value.   The deal saw Wharfedale Hong Kong (managed by Deutsche Bank’s DWS division) offloading its 23.37% stake, and Gateway Infrastructure Hong Kong (managed by Corsair Capital), selling its 30.32%. Both had been looking to sell their positions — which combined could have

(by Karma Loveday) The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has doled out a tougher final settlement than mooted in its October Provisional Determinations for the five firms disputing Ofwat’s PR24 decisions. Base allowances have been cut, but this has been offset by a higher rate of return and enhancement increases. Across the five companies, the CMA allowed additional revenue of £463m, equating to an average bill rise of 2.2% on top of the 24% Ofwat allowed. This is just