The UK government’s publication of A New Vision for Water represents the most significant attempt at water policy reform in decades - arguably since privatisation itself.
The UK government’s publication of A New Vision for Water represents the most significant attempt at water policy reform in decades - arguably since privatisation itself. After years of mounting public frustration over sewage pollution, ageing infrastructure and fragmented governance, this White Paper has been presented as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reset our approach to water management and governance.
In many respects, the government’s analysis is correct: our water system is not delivering the outcomes citizens expect or the environmental protections science demands. The White Paper rightly identifies three core goals - ensuring safe and secure water supplies, protecting and enhancing the environment, and delivering fair outcomes for customers. These are necessary priorities. However, good intentions alone are not enough.
The centrepiece of reform is a proposed new integrated water regulator that would absorb the functions of existing bodies such as Ofwat, the Drinking Water Inspectorate, the Environment Agency and Natural England into a single, cohesive authority for England. This structural reset is perhaps long overdue. The current patchwork has too often allowed gaps between economic, environmental and health regulation - gaps that some companies have been able to navigate in ways that have not always supported the wellbeing of rivers and estuaries, or public confidence.
Read More at: University of Birmingham
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