Picture courtesy of the BBC
Following the publication of the report of the Independent Water Commission chaired by Sir Jon Cunliffe this morning, Professor Carolyn Roberts, Master of the Worshipful Company of Water Conservators, issued the following statement in a personal capacity:
The Cunliffe Report is perhaps the most important review of the water sector in England and Wales since privatisation in 1989. With 88 recommendations, and a ‘summary’ running to 67 pages, it is a hefty read, but many of the recommendations reflect key issues previously flagged up to the Commission by the Water Conservators.
The production of a long-term National Water Strategy with a 25-year perspective should help focus on what is needed in the face of climate change and population growth.
The recommendation for a stronger unified regulator for all aspects of water management will also be welcomed by most professionals and voluntary sector organisations.
Similarly, the proposal for nine new strategic water authorities based on river catchments and including local representation to streamline planning is welcome.
Stronger environmental regulation, with legally binding targets and more sampling to ensure water quality on rivers and beaches is improved drastically, is also long overdue.
But the Commission was prevented from engaging with the fundamental question of whether water is an appropriate resource for privatisation, and the alternative of nationalisation, and it is debateable whether the suggestions for increased emphasis in future on public and environmental benefits will be strong enough to secure the system change that is required to deal with the current challenges.
Decades of underinvestment, leading to infrastructure failures on a catastrophic scale and hundreds of thousands of sewage spills into rivers and onto beaches every year, suggest that the current arrangements are wholly inadequate.
It is sometimes hard to imagine a complete reset of the water sector, but perhaps that too deserves consideration.
For further information contact Nick Higham, highamnews@gmail.com
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