Watery Fear will be A “broken ‘regulatory system ended as part of an overhaulThe Environment Secretary has confirmed.
Steve reed Said The water industry is “broken” And the firms are running to the public under a “regulatory system that let them get away with it”.
Speaking in Southwest London, he said: “Our rivers, lakes and seas are polluted with record levels. feces,
Mr. Reid convicts blaming Water bill To stress domestic finance and warned that the poor infrastructure is withdrawing economic growth. And for decades, he convicted the evil water owners who priorit the payment to shareholders on investment in infrastructure.
He said: “About 85BN £ 85bn was paid since privatization, and we have seen from the status of sewage in our waterways that insufficient investment was going into the water system.
“There were people who were gaming the system … The previous government had allowed regulation to touch very lightly.”
Mr. Reid thanked Sir John Kanalif and his team for his “excellent” report and said that he would give a full reaction in the Commons this afternoon.
,Water companies Profit is allowed at the cost of British people, “he said. Mr. Reid
He said: “The government will end. In one generation, in the biggest overhaul of regulation of water, we will bring water works from four different regulators to one.
“A single, powerful regulatory will stand firmly in favor of customers, investors and environment and prevents the abuses of the past.
“This will provide the necessary clarity and direction for a strong partnership between the government, sector and investors to attract billions of pounds new investment.”
Sir John’s report Recommended for far -reaching changes The way the water system is regulated because it is called the current landscape “fragmented and overlapping”.
In its 88 recommendations, scrapping watt in favor of a powerful regulator is the most important change for the area.
It also advised to remove regulatory roles Environment agency And natural England, which monitor the impact of the region on nature, such as companies illegally dump sewage into the waterways.
The current system has faced intensive criticism to maintain Water companies During the years he paid the shareholders and earned large loans, while the infrastructure collapsed and sewage touched the sky.
After publishing his report, Sir John warned that the water bill would increase by almost one third by the end of the decade.
Sir John told the BBC breakfast, “Bills are going to increase by 30% in the next five years. There are some unavoidable facts. The cost of producing water and dealing with our waste water is increasing. Climate change, high environmental standards, demographic pressure, population is going up. Just need to aging.
“The problem comes when you suddenly go from not investing for a long period, to invest on a large scale, to catch. It actually inspires the huge bill we have seen.
“We need to help the weakest people, we also need to smooth that in a long period so that people can withstand the high cost of water. And regulators have a really important work in squeezing the efficiency, encouraging companies to become more efficient.”
Other recommendations of the Commission include strong consumer advocacy, nine new regional water authority to distribute local priorities, significant improvement in environmental regulation and ownership of the company and strict monitoring of the government.
Regional officials – Eight in England and one National Authority in Wales – will look at the current planning responsibilities and transfer resources from regulators to ensure that investment reflects local priorities and voices.
It comes after about nine months of the commission, analyzing, researching and attaching more than 50,000 reactions to its call for evidence.