Latest news with #Jon Cunliffe
BBC News
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Woman's Hour Water industry review, Actor Harriet Webb, Author Molly Jong-Fast
The state of the UK's water sector is barely out of the headlines at the moment and today a major review into the water industry in England and Wales said the regulator Ofwat should be scrapped. Sir Jon Cunliffe, who led the review, also warned that household bills will rise by 30% over the next five years. Nuala McGovern is joined by Esme Stallard, the BBC's climate and science reporter, and by two women campaigning for clean water on a local and a national level - Jo Robb, member of the Henley Mermaids wild swimming group and District Councillor for the Green Party in South Oxfordshire, and Erica Popplewell, Head of Communities at River Action, a UK-wide environmental campaign group. Harriet Webb is best known for her roles in Channel 4's Bafta-winning series Big Boys, and Michaela Coel's I May Destroy You. She is back on our screens this week playing Kirsty in series two of the Bafta-winning Sky Original Mr Bigstuff, starring alongside Danny Dyer and the show's creator Ryan Sampson. She joins Nuala to discuss why comedy can be the best place to discuss difficult issues like grief, trauma and, even, erectile dysfunction. In a new report, the community interest company Five Times More illustrate how black women in the UK continue to face disproportionately high risks during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postnatal period. Despite a growing body of research and increasing policy attention, the gap in outcomes between black and white women shows little sign of closing. Tinuke, the co-founder of Five Times More, explains what changes they had found since their first report three years ago and what still needs to happen. Molly Jong-Fast is an author and special correspondent for Vanity Fair. She is also the only child of Erica Jong, author of the 1970s feminist autobiographical novel - Fear of Flying. A sensual exploration of female sexual desire, it catapulted Erica to international fame. Molly has written a memoir, How to Lose Your Mother, and she talks to Nuala about growing up in the spotlight, their intense mother-daughter relationship and her mother's heartbreaking descent into dementia. Economic abuse is at 'national emergency' levels yet more than half of UK women don't know anything about it - with a third only knowing 'a little' - this is according to a new report published today by the charity Surviving Economic Abuse. Sam Smethers, CEO of SEA, joins Nuala to explain the types of economic abuse they have uncovered, the implications of their findings and what they want the government to do. Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Emma Pearce
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Homes and factories ‘can be built faster' with water reforms, says Reed
Water reforms will help speed up housebuilding and ease wild swimmers' fears that they might be bathing in sewage, the Environment Secretary has said. Steve Reed described supply and sewage infrastructure as 'critical for housing development, economic development and economic growth', as he took questions about the Independent Water Commission's final report published on Monday. Mr Reed told MPs the Government would publish a white paper this autumn, with proposals in response to the review led by Sir Jon Cunliffe, and teased plans for a new water reform Bill. In the Commons, Labour MP Allison Gardner warned that 'antiquated mains water infrastructure cannot adequately cope with the increased demand of new housing developments, even when the developer meets all the required mitigations'. The Stoke-on-Trent South MP asked: 'Does the minister agree with me that with the Government's plan to build 1.5 million homes, it is vital that privatised water companies ensure that they can adequately meet systems demand without sewage dumping, prioritising this over profiteering?' Conservative MP for Exmouth and Exeter East, David Reed, later said some billpayers feared water companies might not 'keep pace with development' in their area. Responding to the Labour MP, Mr Reed said: 'Water infrastructure is critical for housing development, economic development and economic growth in every single region of the country. 'I've accepted in principle, today, one of Sir Jon's recommendations that will allow us to align for the first time water infrastructure investment and spatial planning so that those homes and factories can be built faster to the benefit of local people.' In his report, Sir Jon wrote that 'planning for the water system should be closely aligned with other spatial planning'. This could involve requiring town halls to ask water firms what they need before agreeing their local planning policies. Samantha Niblett said wild swimmers in Derbyshire and Staffordshire 'frequently have to avoid a Trent tan' when they are in the water. The Labour MP for South Derbyshire asked: 'Does the Secretary of State agree with me that by having cleaner waters we can encourage more great exercise like this to make a healthier – and improve the wellbeing of – our country?' Mr Reed replied: 'The Trent tan is a very alarming and graphic image but it does capture what has gone wrong with our water sector for so long. 'The changes we're announcing today will clean up our waterways across the country, so that wild swimmers as well as many other people who like to enjoy our precious rivers, lakes and seas can get on and enjoy them without the kind of concern that she's alluding to.' The Environment Secretary also rejected the suggestion that ministers should take water firms into public ownership. Clive Lewis, the Labour MP for Norwich South, said the review 'feels like a missed opportunity for the Government to show the public whose side it's on'. He said: 'It entrenches a privatised model that has already failed economically, environmentally and democratically, with 20-50% of bills going on servicing debt. 'Why if public ownership is good enough for rail, good enough for GB Energy and renewables, is it not good enough for water?' Mr Reed said the Government had to 'take a rational and not an ideological approach to tackling this problem', and added Government officials had calculated that 'nationalising the water companies would cost £100 billion'. He continued: 'And to pay that money, we'd have to take it away from public services like the National Health Service and education in order to hand it to the owners of companies that have been polluting our waterways. 'That makes no sense to me, it makes no sense to the public. Frankly, I'm surprised it makes any sense to him.' Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said Sir Jon's report 'looks at how to tinker' with the system and added: 'It's a moribund model that has resulted in billions being paid out to shareholders, billions of debt being loaded up, and neglecting crucial infrastructure, meaning that sewage is regularly pumped into our rivers and seas. 'So, does the Secretary of State accept that the cost of this failure must be part of the calculation in determining the cost of bringing water into public hands where it belongs, and that figures like £100 billion are grossly inflated by those who don't think the water industry should pay for this greed and terrible mismanagement of our water systems?' The Environment Secretary said it would take 'years to unpick the current models of ownership, during which time, pollution in our rivers would get much worse not better'. He said: 'He's talking about cutting the National Health Service, giving £100 billion to the owners of the current water companies, and making pollution far worse – doesn't sound very Green to me.'
The Guardian
a day ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘Broken' water industry in England and Wales faces tighter controls under new watchdog
The 'broken' water sector in England and Wales faces an era of much tighter oversight after a landmark review, including the creation of a new sector watchdog to 'prevent the abuses of the past'. With water and sewerage companies reeling from what the report's author Sir Jon Cunliffe called their 'Great Stink' moment, the government announced it would be abolishing Ofwat and combining its powers with those of other water watchdogs under a new super-regulator. The environment secretary, Steve Reed, told parliament on Monday that ministers would be immediately adopting five of Cunliffe's 88 recommendations, including creating a real-time sewage map with automatic data that names and shames water companies. At the moment, the companies are responsible for reporting their own spills. Campaigners and environment groups will have more of a say in the cleaning-up of their local rivers, Reed announced, and regional water boards will be set up with powers to clean up rivers and seas locally as well as planning essential infrastructure. 'Volunteers and citizen scientists will be able to engage for the first time through regional structures. Citizens, local authorities, businesses will all have a voice,' he said. A 'super regulator' will be created to replace Ofwat, which has been blamed for letting water companies preside over decades of financial mismanagement and widespread sewage dumping. This new watchdog will also take in the powers of the Environment Agency (EA), the Drinking Water Inspectorate and Natural England, to avoid duplication of efforts and provide one clear regulatory system for the industry. Announcing this, Reed said: 'I agree with Sir Jon that water regulation has been too weak, too complex and ineffective. Having four separate regulators with overlapping and conflicting remits has failed customers and the environment.' However, Cunliffe told the Guardian it would be 2027 at the earliest before the new body was fully set up, comparing it to the media regulator. 'We looked at Ofcom, which took two years,' he said. Launching his 465-page report at the London Museum of Water and Steam on Monday, he said the current system had failed: 'If we are to achieve the water sector we need, we need to look at all the factors that have contributed to our Great Stink moment. Some companies have manifestly acted in their private interest but against the public interest. That must be prevented in future.' The Great Stink was the name given to the terrible hot summer of 1858 that created such an awful smell from the Thames that Sir Joseph Bazalgette was tasked with creating the capital's sewer system. Another recommendation Reed is adopting from Cunliffe's report is to create an ombudsman with legal powers to recoup funds for customers who face water outages, and Reed will set out 'strong ministerial directives' for Ofwat and the EA while they are merged, as Cunliffe recommended. The rest of the suggestions will be considered over the summer, with conclusions to be published in a white paper in the autumn. Cunliffe also proposed the creation of a new formal turnaround regime to allow struggling companies space to recover under 'regulatory forbearance' which could let them avoid fines. Thames Water, the UK's largest water company with 16 million customers in London and the south-east, is loaded with £20bn of debt and struggling to stave off financial collapse into special administration, a form of temporary nationalisation. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion However, it may not be able to benefit from the proposed turnaround regime, according to Reed, who said the government was prepared for the company to enter special administration if that became necessary. The company has been asking to be let off more than £1bn in fines, arguing it faces financial collapse if it has to pay for committing environmental offences. Some campaign groups welcomed the report. Mark Lloyd, the chief executive of the Rivers Trust, said the 88 recommendations 'would lead to a dramatic improvement in the water environment and far more cost-effective delivery'. Others were less enthusiastic, particularly as Cunliffe was barred by Reed from exploring the possibility of nationalisation. The water campaigner Feargal Sharkey accused the government of a year of inaction on sewage and called for the environment secretary to quit: 'The first year has been so chaotic,' he said. 'Quite frankly I think Steve Reed now needs to resign and hand the job over to somebody who can be more effective.' A spokesperson for Keir Starmer said the prime minister had full confidence in Reed, who was doing an 'excellent' job. The GMB union called for the renationalisation of water. Gary Carter, its national officer, said: 'Water privatisation has been a disastrous failure. It's a disgrace – and one Ofwat has overseen. Now is the time to fundamentally reform the water sector and renationalise this vital resource.' Reed said that he had not considered nationalisation as an option because his department had found the cost would be in excess of £100bn which is money which could be used for services such as the NHS. Economists have queried this figure and suggested it could cost as little as £14.5bn. Cunliffe said that regardless of nationalisation being out of his remit, the ownership structure was not necessarily the cause of the sewage pollution, arguing that the UK had been the 'dirty man of Europe' under a nationalised model. He also defended the high pay of water company executives after anger caused by the news last week about Southern Water's chief executive receiving a doubled pay package. 'We are not proposing the regulator should set pay scales for the industry,' Cunliffe said. 'They do need to recruit, and you have to attract the best people. What really makes the public angry is when the pay is there but the performance is not.'
The Independent
a day ago
- Business
- The Independent
Homes and factories ‘can be built faster' with water reforms, says Reed
Water reforms will help speed up housebuilding and ease wild swimmers' fears that they might be bathing in sewage, the Environment Secretary has said. Steve Reed described supply and sewage infrastructure as 'critical for housing development, economic development and economic growth', as he took questions about the Independent Water Commission's final report published on Monday. Mr Reed told MPs the Government would publish a white paper this autumn, with proposals in response to the review led by Sir Jon Cunliffe, and teased plans for a new water reform Bill. In the Commons, Labour MP Allison Gardner warned that 'antiquated mains water infrastructure cannot adequately cope with the increased demand of new housing developments, even when the developer meets all the required mitigations'. The Stoke-on-Trent South MP asked: 'Does the minister agree with me that with the Government's plan to build 1.5 million homes, it is vital that privatised water companies ensure that they can adequately meet systems demand without sewage dumping, prioritising this over profiteering?' Conservative MP for Exmouth and Exeter East, David Reed, later said some billpayers feared water companies might not 'keep pace with development' in their area. Responding to the Labour MP, Mr Reed said: 'Water infrastructure is critical for housing development, economic development and economic growth in every single region of the country. 'I've accepted in principle, today, one of Sir Jon's recommendations that will allow us to align for the first time water infrastructure investment and spatial planning so that those homes and factories can be built faster to the benefit of local people.' In his report, Sir Jon wrote that 'planning for the water system should be closely aligned with other spatial planning'. This could involve requiring town halls to ask water firms what they need before agreeing their local planning policies. Samantha Niblett said wild swimmers in Derbyshire and Staffordshire 'frequently have to avoid a Trent tan' when they are in the water. The Labour MP for South Derbyshire asked: 'Does the Secretary of State agree with me that by having cleaner waters we can encourage more great exercise like this to make a healthier – and improve the wellbeing of – our country?' Mr Reed replied: 'The Trent tan is a very alarming and graphic image but it does capture what has gone wrong with our water sector for so long. 'The changes we're announcing today will clean up our waterways across the country, so that wild swimmers as well as many other people who like to enjoy our precious rivers, lakes and seas can get on and enjoy them without the kind of concern that she's alluding to.' The Environment Secretary also rejected the suggestion that ministers should take water firms into public ownership. Clive Lewis, the Labour MP for Norwich South, said the review 'feels like a missed opportunity for the Government to show the public whose side it's on'. He said: 'It entrenches a privatised model that has already failed economically, environmentally and democratically, with 20-50% of bills going on servicing debt. 'Why if public ownership is good enough for rail, good enough for GB Energy and renewables, is it not good enough for water?' Mr Reed said the Government had to 'take a rational and not an ideological approach to tackling this problem', and added Government officials had calculated that 'nationalising the water companies would cost £100 billion'. He continued: 'And to pay that money, we'd have to take it away from public services like the National Health Service and education in order to hand it to the owners of companies that have been polluting our waterways. 'That makes no sense to me, it makes no sense to the public. Frankly, I'm surprised it makes any sense to him.' Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said Sir Jon's report 'looks at how to tinker' with the system and added: 'It's a moribund model that has resulted in billions being paid out to shareholders, billions of debt being loaded up, and neglecting crucial infrastructure, meaning that sewage is regularly pumped into our rivers and seas. 'So, does the Secretary of State accept that the cost of this failure must be part of the calculation in determining the cost of bringing water into public hands where it belongs, and that figures like £100 billion are grossly inflated by those who don't think the water industry should pay for this greed and terrible mismanagement of our water systems?' The Environment Secretary said it would take 'years to unpick the current models of ownership, during which time, pollution in our rivers would get much worse not better'. He said: 'He's talking about cutting the National Health Service, giving £100 billion to the owners of the current water companies, and making pollution far worse – doesn't sound very Green to me.'
The Guardian
a day ago
- Business
- The Guardian
The Guardian view on the water industry: a return to public ownership should still be on the table
Labour could have chosen the public interest over the profit motive, as it set about its promised reorganisation of the water industry in England and Wales. Polling last year showed a higher level of support for publicly owned water companies than railways. Yet while train companies are being renationalised as contracts expire, ministers ruled out a reversal of 1989's water privatisation before they commissioned Sir Jon Cunliffe, a former central banker, to report on how they could improve this failing industry through tougher regulation. This newspaper regrets that the question of ownership was taken off the table. Water is among the most precious of all natural resources and the pro‑market logic for the sell-off was bogus. In the absence of competition, regional monopolies were created and, in the decades since, businesses have enriched themselves while failing to fulfil their responsibilities. No other European government has followed suit in offloading vital infrastructure including pipes and reservoirs, and enabling investors to extract wealth by loading up balance sheets with debt. Asking Sir Jon's commission to reconsider public ownership, alongside regulatory reform, would have offered more options. Growing pressure on the water supply, and increasing instability of hydrological cycles due to global heating, mean proper stewardship centred on human needs is more essential now than ever. It remains likely that Thames Water will end up in special administration due to its vast debt – despite this scenario having been left out of the commission's scope. The Common Wealth thinktank has proposed this as a stepping stone to long-term public control. Within the terms offered, Sir Jon has done a thorough piece of work. If they are accepted by ministers and work in the way he intends – and these are big ifs – his 88 recommendations ought to bring a shocking period of mismanagement to an end. But they probably won't prevent another from beginning. Not all of England and Wales's 11 regional water companies have the disgraceful records of Thames and Southern. The approach to pollution of these two businesses, combined with their aggressive financing structures, have undermined public confidence more deeply than all the rest. But tougher regulation is clearly overdue. The supervisory approach proposed, modelled on financial regulation, would be a significant improvement provided that the right people, including engineers, are put in charge. Rather than conduct statistical tick-box exercises, this new regulator should aim for an overview. Bringing under one new roof the various regulatory functions – including those carried out in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and by the little-known Drinking Water Inspectorate, as well as Ofwat – makes obvious sense. The rollout of smart meters is also a good proposal, provided that a social tariff is created for low-income households. An ombudsman ought to make it easier to seek redress when local services fail. It is right to highlight the need for a longer-term approach to water policy too. It remains to be seen which of these ideas will be taken forward. Businesses in multiple sectors are experts at running rings around regulators. Making water companies value the public interest more highly, relative to private profit, will be an ongoing struggle. Without structural reform, the cycle of regulatory failure and corporate evasion remains all too likely.
