Latest news with #Well-beingofFutureGenerationsAct
ITV News
21-07-2025
- Politics
- ITV News
Overhaul of water regulation in Wales needed, landmark review says
The system for regulating water companies should be overhauled and Natural Resources Wales should be given more responsibilities, according to a landmark review of the sector. A wide-ranging review into the water industry has said NRW should absorb some of the responsibilities currently held by the Water Services Regulation Authority, or Ofwat, which regulates the water sector in Wales and England. Ofwat is a non-ministerial government department, which was established in 1989 when the water and sewerage industry in Wales and England was privatised, while NRW is the largest Welsh Government-sponsored body, focused on tackling the climate, nature and pollution emergencies. The final report from the Independent Water Commission, chaired by former Bank of England deputy governor Sir Jon Cunliffe, makes 88 recommendations aimed at improving the sector, urging both the Welsh and UK governments to act on growing concern over pollution, water quality and long-term investment. UK Government water minister Emma Hardy told broadcasters on Monday that the system is 'broken', but did not commit to how many of the 88 suggestions would be accepted by Whitehall. The report, published on Monday, 21 July, recommended far-reaching changes to the way the water system is regulated as it called the current landscape 'fragmented and overlapping'. For Wales, one of the key proposals includes abolishing Ofwat's role, with the regulator currently overseeing how much companies can charge for water and wastewater services, and transferring those powers to NRW. The review also recommends abolishing the Drinking Water Inspectorate, which monitors the safety of drinking water supplies. The Welsh Government backed the commission's findings, saying in a statement: "We welcome the publication of the report. This is a once in a generation opportunity to reset how Wales manages water. 'Many of the recommendations will need careful consideration and engagement to make sure we take action that is right for the people of Wales and aligns with the Well-being of Future Generations Act.' For England, the report advises removing the regulatory roles of the Environment Agency and Natural England, which monitor the sector's impact on nature, like companies illegally dumping sewage into waterways. Instead, a 'joined-up' and 'powerful' single integrated water regulator in England should be established, according to the recommendations. Ms Hardy told BBC Breakfast that UK ministers would be taking 'a proper look' at the paper 'all the way through the summer'. Asked if all the recommendations would be made law, she told the programme: 'What we'll do is we'll have a proper look at it all the way through the summer and the intention is that we're going to introduce a White Paper to spell out exactly what we're going to do on water reform.' Ms Hardy said that the UK Government would 'introduce a Water Bill next year, which will change the law', but added: 'Exactly how many out of the 88 we're going to do or not going to do, then we'll work that out in the next few months.' The current system has faced intense criticism for overseeing water companies during the years they paid out shareholders and accrued large debts while ageing infrastructure crumbled and sewage spills skyrocketed. Author Sir Jon said the review has 'tried to attack the problem from all sides' but warned that bills are going to rise by 30% over the next five years. 'There are some inescapable facts here,' he said. 'The cost of producing water and dealing with our wastewater is going up.' Sir Jon later told Times Radio that regulators have failed to work together to make the sector deliver and blamed the Government for not giving clear direction. 'It's the failure of the government to balance out all the different pressures on water,' he said, adding that firms 'need to perform better' and 'be funded to invest'. The UK Government also supported the report, with Ms Hardy saying consumers have been 'failed time and time again'. Speaking on Times Radio, she said 'root-and-branch reform' is needed to fix the crisis and told listeners the government is considering a piece of primary legislation to deliver many of the proposed changes. Ms Hardy also described trust in the water industry as at 'the lowest ever level' and criticised executives for handing out pay rises and bonuses. 'Everyone knows the system is broken,' she said. 'And they give themselves huge pay rises.' However, the minister also ruled out supporting government intervention to cap pay in the private sector. Ms Hardy said: 'I don't think as government we should say what private companies should pay. But I will say – read the room. Look how angry and furious people are."
Wales Online
10-07-2025
- Climate
- Wales Online
'Heatwaves should be given names like storms - they are a danger to life'
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info When the sun shines in Wales, we celebrate it. A day at the beach, a picnic in the park, all pursuits that aid our well-being after a long winter, while front pages carry photos of dripping ice cream cones and cheer another 'scorcher'. But as the thermometer nudges past 30°C again this week, it's time we delve a little deeper. Prolonged, extreme heat isn't normal, and we aren't prepared for its side effects. My role is to be a guardian of future generations under Wales' Well-being of Future Generations Act, but also to make sure those in charge are doing all they can so we can live well today. And climate change isn't just a future problem — it's happening now, and heatwaves are one of its most lethal symptoms. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here Globally, heat kills more people than floods, earthquakes, and hurricanes combined. According to insurance company Swiss Re, an estimated 500,000 people lose their lives every year to extreme heat. Yet here in Wales, high temperatures are not yet being treated as the public health emergency they often are. Academics have been leading a growing movement to name heatwaves in the same way we name storms – a simple, but powerful message. When we hear that Storm Babet is on its way, we know to prepare — to check in on neighbours, avoid travel, and follow emergency guidance. The same logic should apply to heatwaves, especially when we know they disproportionately impact older people, young children, and people living in poverty. Naming heatwaves would make their danger visible — and visibility drives urgency. If you tell someone the weekend will be "Heatwave Idris" suddenly it's not just a beach day. It's a signal that something potentially life-threatening is happening, and we need to respond accordingly. My Future Generations Report 2025 argues that climate risk must become a core part of how we plan, design, and deliver public services. Health boards, councils, and emergency planners should be working with communities to assess vulnerability to climate extremes and take coordinated action. In places like Cwm Taf Morgannwg and Pembrokeshire, this kind of forward-thinking is already under way. Cwm Taf Morgannwg Public Services Board's climate risk assessment involved more than 220 people from residents to emergency planners, to identify how floods, droughts, and heatwaves could affect everything from infrastructure to social care across three local authority areas. This isn't top-down decision-making — it's people-led planning that responds to real lived experience. And this is vital, because the impacts of climate change are not distributed equally. Research from Madrid shows people on lower incomes suffer most due to poorly insulated homes, lack of access to green space or air conditioning, or pre-existing health conditions that are worsened by heat. So, what can we do? For starters, we must stop seeing climate adaptation as optional. The Well-being of Future Generations Act gives Wales a unique framework to plan for long-term challenges. By the end of 2027, I want every public services board in Wales to have a climate risk assessment and outline clear steps that reflect their communities' needs. The natural world holds many of the solutions and we must ensure our climate action is nature-led. Increased tree cover in our towns and cities can significantly reduce local temperatures, improve air quality, and make urban areas more resilient to heat. This year it was announced a quarter of Newport, South Wales, would be covered by trees within 10 years, with the planting of almost 30,000 'urban forest' trees. Wales was the first country in the world to measure its urban tree coverage and has planted its first Tiny Forests, from Barry to Kinmel Bay. In Medellín, Colombia, a network of green corridors has already reduced average city temperatures by 2°C, with Paris, Durban and San Fransisco taking similar action. Imagine the impact if we summer-proofed all our spaces, so we could enjoy more comfortable days and protect our most vulnerable. We should also rethink how and where we build. The National Infrastructure Commission for Wales sees climate change as a national security threat, urging planners to stop developing in flood-prone areas. It recommends we treat nature as a stakeholder in every major infrastructure decision — and create a dedicated fund for adaptation and resilience. These are not radical ideas; they are common sense. Crucially, adaptation will require listening to those most at risk — older people, disabled people, low-income families, carers — and putting their needs at the heart of planning. We're not moving fast enough - only two of our 13 Public Services Boards (the statutory bodies set up to improve the well-being of the area under our future generations law) have a climate change risk assessment. The cost of doing nothing is enormous. But the cost of acting now — planting trees, upgrading infrastructure, reforming planning, educating the public — is far lower, with multiple benefits. If giving monikers to storms has played a part in saving lives, there's every reason to believe it could do the same for heatwaves. Because the climate crisis isn't coming — it's here. And we'd better start naming it.
Western Telegraph
28-06-2025
- Business
- Western Telegraph
Senedd hears future generations law ‘lacks teeth'
The Senedd's equality committee took evidence as part of follow-up scrutiny a decade on from the Welsh parliament passing the Well-being of Future Generations Act in 2015. Labour's Mick Antoniw warned the Act, which aims to put sustainable development at the heart of decision making, lacks impetus and risks being a "bureaucratic tick-box exercise'. Mr Antoniw, who was involved in early stages of scrutiny of the then-bill, said: 'It started off… as a sustainability bill until no one could actually define what they meant by sustainability… came up with the term future generations and… that might be seen to be equally nebulous.' As well as describing the Act as vague, the former minister suggested Wales' future generations commissioner has few – if any – powers to hold public bodies to account. He said: 'I always thought that was a mistake right from the beginning, [you] don't give it proper teeth to actually have the impact that shifts decision making.' Calvin Jones, an environmental economist, said the commissioner and his predecessor told him their only 'big stick' is to 'name and shame' which they are reluctant to do. 'As soon as you get the stick out, people take their eyes off the carrot,' he said. 'There's this constant tension between wanting to chivvy the laggards along but realising once you get a reputation as somebody who's an auditor effectively then games start being played and boxes start being ticked. 'That tension has always stymied the way in which the commissioners have been prepared to name and shame which was, I think, the only serious bit of teeth in the Act.' Prof Jones, who left Cardiff University in May, suggested Audit Wales should have more of a role in holding public bodies to account in a similar way to their bookkeeping duties. He warned of a major lack of funding for the commissioner's office, describing the money allocated by the Welsh Government as akin to using a sticking plaster on the Titanic.
Business News Wales
26-06-2025
- Science
- Business News Wales
Swansea's Former Woolworths Building at Centre of £3m Research Project
The University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) is playing a leading role in a major new UK-wide project that has secured £3 million in funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The project, Retrofitting for the Future: Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Adaptation, brings together a consortium of academic and societal partners to explore how biophilic design – working with nature rather than against it – can help urban areas adapt to the intensifying impacts of climate change. The four-year transdisciplinary project, which is one of only three selected across the UK through the AHRC's new Mission Awards, will investigate how older urban buildings and public spaces can be reimagined as sustainable, liveable places that promote human and ecological well-being. The project's flagship case study is the transformation of Swansea's former Woolworths building, now The Biome, into the UK's first retrofitted 'living building', integrating housing, commercial, community and education spaces with nature at its core. Dr Jeremy Smith, Dean of the Institute of Education and Humanities from University of Wales Trinity Saint David, said: 'This award reflects the bold, collaborative thinking required to address the climate and nature emergencies. I'm especially proud of UWTSD's leadership in this work, which brings the arts, humanities, and sciences together with civic and community partners to explore how we can make urban life healthier, greener and more resilient. This is not only about buildings – it's about people, place, and the futures we're building together.' The research team at UWTSD will lead key strands of the project focusing on the cultural, social, ecological, and policy dimensions of biophilic retrofitting. Working in close collaboration with industry, housing, health, education and policy partners, the team will identify and overcome the technical, regulatory and behavioural barriers that hinder the adoption of nature-based solutions in cities. Dr Luci Attala, Deputy Executive Director of the UNESCO-MOST BRIDGES global coalition and Associate Professor in Anthropology at UWTSD, added: 'Retrofitting for the Future aligns with Wales's Well-being of Future Generations Act and the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. We urgently need to rethink the way we live in cities not just structurally, but emotionally and ecologically. Our research is grounded in co-creation and lived experience, ensuring that the voices of residents, creatives, and communities shape the future of urban living. This project offers a blueprint for how we can retrofit not just our buildings, but our relationships with nature, each other, and the systems that govern us.' The consortium includes University College London, Swansea University, Hacer Developments, Pobl Group, Natural Resources Wales, and the City and County of Swansea Council, along with a range of local and international partners.
South Wales Argus
26-06-2025
- Business
- South Wales Argus
Senedd hears future generations law ‘lacks teeth'
The Senedd's equality committee took evidence as part of follow-up scrutiny a decade on from the Welsh parliament passing the Well-being of Future Generations Act in 2015. Labour's Mick Antoniw warned the Act, which aims to put sustainable development at the heart of decision making, lacks impetus and risks being a "bureaucratic tick-box exercise'. Mr Antoniw, who was involved in early stages of scrutiny of the then-bill, said: 'It started off… as a sustainability bill until no one could actually define what they meant by sustainability… came up with the term future generations and… that might be seen to be equally nebulous.' As well as describing the Act as vague, the former minister suggested Wales' future generations commissioner has few – if any – powers to hold public bodies to account. He said: 'I always thought that was a mistake right from the beginning, [you] don't give it proper teeth to actually have the impact that shifts decision making.' Calvin Jones, an environmental economist, said the commissioner and his predecessor told him their only 'big stick' is to 'name and shame' which they are reluctant to do. 'As soon as you get the stick out, people take their eyes off the carrot,' he said. 'There's this constant tension between wanting to chivvy the laggards along but realising once you get a reputation as somebody who's an auditor effectively then games start being played and boxes start being ticked. 'That tension has always stymied the way in which the commissioners have been prepared to name and shame which was, I think, the only serious bit of teeth in the Act.' Prof Jones, who left Cardiff University in May, suggested Audit Wales should have more of a role in holding public bodies to account in a similar way to their bookkeeping duties. He warned of a major lack of funding for the commissioner's office, describing the money allocated by the Welsh Government as akin to using a sticking plaster on the Titanic.
