What are the key recommendations for reforming UK's water sector?
The privatised water industry in England and Wales has sparked widespread anger by releasing record levels of sewage into rivers and lakes, prompting the Labour government to promise major reforms when it was elected last year.
Below are the highlights of the report's 88 recommendations by the Independent Water Commission:
The report recommends a single water regulator in England and one in Wales to replace the current fragmented regulatory system. This would streamline oversight, close regulatory gaps, and boost investor confidence as the sector faces major challenges from climate change and population growth, the report said.
The Commission recommended tighter oversight of water company ownership and governance, including powers for the regulator to block changes in ownership if investors are not seen to be prioritising the long-term interests of the company and its customers. It recommended that the regulator set "minimum capital" requirements so that companies are less reliant on debt and more financially resilient.
The Commission called for a reset of economic regulation with a new "supervisory" approach for tailored oversight and earlier interventions. It also recommended changes to the Price Review process to ensure proper investment and attract long-term, low-risk funding.
The report proposed creating eight new regional water planning authorities in England and one national authority in Wales. They would be responsible for developing water investment plans, streamlining existing planning processes, directing funding and ensuring accountability from all sectors that impact water.
The Commission called for a National Water Strategy covering at least 25 years and with regular milestones. The strategy should guide cross-sector water use and be supported by ministerial priorities to guide regulation.
The report recommended a national social tariff to ensure consistent support for low-income customers who need help to pay their bills, addressing current regional disparities.
The report urged stronger environmental regulation, including improved monitoring, stricter rules on abstraction, sludge, drinking water standards and water supply. It recommended compulsory water metering, revised tariffs for industrial users, expanded water reuse and rainwater harvesting schemes. It also set out where environmental legislation needs updating.
The report called for reforms in how water infrastructure is managed, monitored and delivered, including new requirements for companies to map and assess their assets.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
UK vehicle making hits lowest level since 1953, excluding Covid
British car and van production in the first half of this year has hit its lowest level since 1953, excluding the industry shutdown during output fell 7.3% in the six months to June while the closure of Vauhall's Luton van plant helped drive van production down 45%, data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) over tariffs in the US – the UK industry's second biggest market – meant some firms slowed or stopped production in the first half of this said the US-UK tariff deal which has since come into effect could help confidence, while the government said its electric vehicle (EV) grants would "boost" the industry. The SMMT welcomed the EV grants, but it said the new system lacked clarity and had been introduced without consulting the Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said the half year production figures were "depressing" but that he hoped that the first half of this year marked "the nadir" for the UK auto industry.A deal with the US to reduce tariffs from 27.5% to 10% was announced in May came into effect on 30 June, with SMMT recording a small rise in vehicle production in June. However, the SMMT does not expect to return to 2021 production levels of one million vehicles by the end of the Hawes said that the government's target of 1.3 million vehicles per year by 2035 was "quite some ambition from where we are", adding that "we clearly require at least one, if not two, new entrants to come into UK production" to hit the of electrified vehicles rose 1.8% with battery, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid vehicles accounting for a record of more than two in five of vehicles week the government confirmed it will reintroduce grants of up to £3,750 on some EVs are priced at or below £37, the SMMT welcomed the return of incentives that were abolished in 2022, there is widespread confusion about which vehicles will qualify for the eligibility and level of discount will be determined by the amount of carbon emitted in the production of the vehicle and its battery. They will only be offered to manufacturers that have verified science-based targets with thresholds the government has not yet expected that Chinese and Korean vehicles will not meet the criteria but little else is clear."The difficulty is, we don't know. Nobody knows, but nobody, not even government, really knows yet, which models and which brands will qualify," said Mr Hawes."I think the industry is still trying to get clarity behind its application. Right now your dealer cannot tell you whether the model you are considering is eligible."He said clarity was needed soon as September is the second biggest month for new car registrations.A transport department spokesperson said it expects "dozens of models to be eligible for the electric car grant, which will provide a substantial boost for the industry and save drivers thousands of pounds"."We want the discounts to become available to drivers as soon as possible, and we are engaging extensively with vehicle manufacturers and have published guidance to help them apply as easily as possible," they £650m of grant money will be awarded on a first come first served basis.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Asylum seekers are using taxpayer handouts to fund their gambling habits: More than 6,000 migrants used government-issued cards loaded with £50 a week at betting shops and casinos in past year
Asylum seekers are using taxpayer handouts to fund their gambling habits. Pre-paid cards given out to pay for basics including food and clothing are being used in gambling venues such as bookmakers, amusement arcades and even casinos, Home Office data shows. In the last year, up to 6,537 asylum seekers have used the government-issued cards at least once for gambling. The shock figures were released under freedom of information laws to the PoliticsHome website. Last night they triggered calls for an immediate clampdown to prevent the abuse of taxpayers' money by asylum seekers, including many who entered the country illegally. The Home Office last night launched an inquiry into the scandal. A Home Office spokesman said: 'The Home Office have begun an investigation into the use of Aspen cards. 'The Home Office has a legal obligation to support asylum seekers, including any dependants, who would otherwise be destitute.' Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp described the 'shocking' figures as 'an insult to taxpayers'. 'These people have illegally entered this country without needing to – France is safe and no one needs to flee from there,' he said. 'The British taxpayer has put them up in hotels and now they slap us in the face by using the money they are given to fund gambling. These illegal immigrants clearly don't need the money they are given if they are squandering it at casinos and arcades. 'Labour has lost control of our borders with record numbers for illegal immigrants crossing the Channel this year. The number in asylum hotels has gone up since the election and now we learn of this insult to British taxpayers. 'Everyone illegally crossing the Channel should be immediately removed to their country of origin or a safe third country in order to deter these crossings.' So-called Aspen cards are issued to asylum seekers while they wait to have their claims dealt with – a process that can take months, or even years. Those in self-catered accommodation receive £49.18 on the card each week to pay for 'clothes and footwear, non-prescription medicines, travel, food, non-alcoholic drinks, toiletries, laundry, toilet paper and communications'. The cards are currently issued to around 80,000 individuals who are waiting for a decision on whether they have a valid claim to stay in the UK. Many are living in hotels at the taxpayers' expense. The Home Office is able to track where the cards are used but does not block payments for particular types of transaction. The figures reveal that significant numbers of asylum seekers are now using the cards to gamble. The Home Office figures break down how many asylum seekers attempted to use their cards in gambling venues each week. They do not record how many times each individual attempted to use their card in that week. They show that an average of 125 asylum seekers a week used their cards with 'gambling-related merchants'. Dozens used the cards every week, with 177 using them to gamble in Christmas week when many venues are closed. The figures peaked at 227 in one week at the end of November last year. The Aspen cards use a chip and pin system so cannot be used for contactless payments or online. A Home Office source insisted it was 'not possible' to use the cards to directly place a bet. However, the data is understood to include withdrawals made from cash machines inside venues such as amusement arcades and casinos – where gambling is the sole focus. Paul Bristow, Tory mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, suggested gambling by asylum seekers at the taxpayers' expense may even be fuelling the growth of the industry. He told PoliticsHome: 'Peterborough has seen a huge increase in the number of gambling establishments and gaming centres, and a huge increase in men who've arrived on small boats. 'It's not unusual to see the very same men in some of the establishments on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night. There's something going on here. Questions need to be asked. It would be absolutely wrong if they were using money given to them by British taxpayers to waste on gambling.' Reform UK's deputy leader Richard Tice said: 'This revelation, coupled with migrants working illegally, shows that the Home Office is incapable of policing the illegal migrant population. This is a slap in the face to hardworking British taxpayers who are struggling to make ends meet.' The revelations are likely to fuel concerns about the explosion in small boat crossings under Labour. Around 20,000 people crossed the Channel illegally in the first half of this year – a rise of 50 per cent on the previous year. Public anger is already mounting over the policy of accommodating tens of thousands of asylum seekers in hotels across the country, with angry protests erupting in recent days in Epping, in Essex, Diss in Norfolk and Canary Wharf, in London. The Aspen cards were introduced to provide basic subsistence for asylum seekers who are not legally allowed to work or claim benefits in most cases. But ministers are increasingly concerned at evidence of illegal working by asylum seekers, which may allow some to treat their taxpayer-funded handouts as pin money. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has ordered a clampdown on illegal working this week following a string of reports about asylum seekers earning money in the gig economy with delivery firms such as Deliveroo and Just Eat. In some cases, delivery bikes bearing the firms' logos have been seen parked outside asylum hotels. Firms will be issued with data on the locations of asylum hotels and ordered to stop using workers who appear to have been operating from there. But experts question whether this will work. Emma Brooksbank, immigration partner at law firm Freeths, said the plan was likely to prove ineffective. 'It will not be difficult for illegal workers to bypass this restriction and avoid detection. Companies like these gig economy operators are largely unregulated, and as such the usual right to work penalties of £60,000 per illegal worker do not apply. They have no real incentive to clean up their act.'
ITV News
an hour ago
- ITV News
UK-wide strategy needed to tackle pensioner poverty, says committee
A national strategy to tackle pensioner poverty is needed, according to MPs. The Government should also decide on – and ensure – a minimum level of retirement income, the Work and Pensions Committee urged. Once set, a plan should be created for everyone to reach that level, it added. Given that the state pension is the core of the Government's offer to pensioners, a guiding principle should be that it provides the amount needed for a 'minimum, dignified, socially acceptable standard of living', the committee said. It urged the Government to commit to a UK-wide, cross-government strategy for an ageing society, that it said would help target support to tackle pensioner poverty. If it does not effectively tackle poverty as one of the causes of ill-health, 'the Government will not be able to achieve its goal of building a health and social care service that is sustainable', the Pensioner Poverty report warned. The report also highlighted longer-term trends that 'threaten to undermine pension adequacy', such as people renting into later life. The committee also called for a pension credit take-up strategy for England by the end of 2025. Despite being worth up to £4,000 a year, the take-up of pension credit has hovered between 61% and 66% for a decade, with an estimated 700,000 households being eligible but not claiming, the committee said. A taper to pension credit should also be considered to 'mitigate the cliff-edge effect' for those who currently miss out, the report said. Under current rules, some pensioners just above income thresholds could end up worse off than those with slightly lower incomes, it added. Pension credit can 'passport' recipients to other benefits such as housing benefit, council tax support, the warm homes discount, a free TV licence, help with dental treatment and, in winter 2024/25, the winter fuel payment. The committee argued that reliance on top-ups such as pension credit and housing benefit is not sufficient to ensure people do not fall below the poverty line. The report said: 'After a decline in pensioner poverty in the 2000s, the number of pensioners in relative low income started to rise again from 2010. This has been exacerbated by increases in the cost of living since 2021.' It continued: 'The number of people of pension age living in relative poverty (below 60% of median income) is 1.9 million or 16% of pensioners. 'Measures which factor in the cost of living show that between 2008/09 and 2022/23, the number of pensioners in households below the Minimum Income Standard (MIS)—the amount needed for a minimum dignified socially acceptable standard of living—rose from 1.5 to 2.8 million. 'The proportion of pensioners below 75% of MIS (where the risk of material deprivation increases substantially) rose from 5.9% in 2021/22 to 9.5% in 2022/23. 'In practice, this means cutting back on essentials, like food, energy use and seeing friends, in an attempt to manage costs. Health experts explained the implications for health. Financial hardship can accelerate the ageing process, making it more likely that an older person will enter hospital or need care.' The committee said that in some places, organisations are working together towards shared objectives. The report continued: 'However, not all areas do this. We heard that it would help to have a national cross-government strategy for our ageing society and older people. 'This could provide a framework to hold the different partners to account for their role in delivering the agreed outcomes. It could also ensure that central government departments developed policy with shared objectives in mind.' Committee chairwoman Debbie Abrahams said: 'To boost incomes, the Government needs to come up with a strategy to increase pension credit take-up. It's a scandal that so many have missed out for so many years, often through an aversion to claiming benefits altogether, or lack of support. 'The fairness of the pensions credit eligibility criteria where if you are a penny above the threshold, you miss out on thousands of pounds, also needs to be looked at. 'Ultimately, the Government should decide what it thinks is enough for a dignified retirement, and then work to ensure that all pensioners are on at least that level. 'Faced with a combination of high energy costs, ill-health and ever higher rates of pensioners in more costly privately rented accommodation, tackling pensioner poverty is not simply a DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) issue. So, we're calling for a nationwide, cross-government strategy for an ageing society that should be rooted in equity and wellbeing.' On Tuesday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said that a review into raising the state pension age is needed to ensure the system is 'sustainable and affordable'. The Government review is due to report in March 2029 and Ms Reeves said it was 'right' to look at the age at which people can receive the state pension as life expectancy increases. The state pension age is currently 66, rising to 67 by 2028 and the Government is legally required to periodically review the age. A Government spokesperson said: 'Supporting pensioners is a top priority, and thanks to our commitment to the triple lock, millions will see their yearly state pension rise by up to £1,900 by the end of this parliament. 'We have also run the biggest-ever campaign to boost pension credit take-up, with nearly 60,000 extra pensioner households being awarded the benefit, worth on average around £4,300 a year. 'But we know there is a real risk that tomorrow's pensioners will be poorer than today's, which is why we are reviving the Pension Commission, to tackle the barriers that stop too many people from saving.' Emma Douglas, wealth policy director at Aviva, said: 'The pensions industry – alongside a revitalised Pensions Commission – has a critical role to play in helping people save for retirement and then turn their hard-earned pension pots into lasting financial security. 'With many people likely to manage their money well into their 90s, we must ensure those savings work harder and stretch further – especially as later life can bring complex challenges like cognitive decline.' She said that Aviva and Age UK were exploring a 'mid-retirement MOT' to help give people tools, guidance, and confidence to stay financially resilient throughout retirement. Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: 'We warmly welcome this thoughtful and wide-ranging select committee report, which comes closer to providing a thorough and progressive strategic overview of the issues facing older people on low incomes and proposing workable solutions than anything successive governments have produced in recent years. 'When the Government announced the launch of the Pensions Commission earlier this week, ministers made it clear that its task is to think about the creation of a better system for future pensioners. 'This is necessary and important, but this committee report reinforces the point that there's work to do to improve the situation of today's pensioners on low incomes as well.'
