Legionella and over 100 sewage leaks in government buildings in the past year

Published

2 years ago

August 17, 2023

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There have been over 100 sewage leaks in government buildings across the UK in the past 12 months, data obtained by the Liberal Democrats reveals.

Legionella was also discovered in water outlets in HMRC’s Liverpool offices, leading civil service unions to criticise the “unsafe and unsanitary environments” for civil servants.

But the government says it manages over 140,000 buildings across the country and has invested over £50m in maintenance and improvements.

Parliamentary questions tabled by the Liberal Democrats reveal there were a total of 138 sewage leaks in government buildings over the past 12 months.

The worst affected department was the Ministry of Defence which saw 102 leaks in the past 12 months at four sites: Culdrose; RAF Henlow; Lyneham; and Faslane.

There were also 25 sewage leaks at Department for Work and Pensions properties, which the department said were “generally relating to individual toilets and blocked pipes”.

Sewage leaks occurred in the following departments:

• Ministry of Defence – 102 leaks

• Department for Work and Pensions – 25 leaks

• Department for Transport – five leaks

• Cabinet Office – four leaks

• Department for Education – two leaks

The Cabinet Office said that across their 32 sites, four leaks occurred within the past 12 months. Two were in York and two were in London, which were blamed on “exceptionally heavy rainfall”.

The department added there were no sewage leaks in Downing Street, for which it is also responsible.

The Home Office, Scotland Office, Ministry of Justice, Treasury, and Attorney General’s Office declined to answer the question, either due to the “disproportionate cost” of gathering the data or because their properties are managed by another department.

Legionella bacteria was also discovered in a “small number of water outlets” in HMRC’s Liverpool office, which was identified during “routine sampling”.

Legionella bacteria can cause a potentially deadly lung infection known as Legionnaires’ disease. It is contracted by people breathing in droplets of water containing the bacteria.

An HMRC spokesperson said the health of safety of employees is “of paramount importance” and said the issue has been rectified.

“A water quality issue was identified, immediate treatment and measures were put in place, and we continue to mitigate risks, as advised by water hygiene specialists and legislation,” they added.

Amy Leversidge, assistant general secretary of the FDA union, which represents civil servants, said in a statement: “It is clearly unacceptable for civil servants to be working in unsafe and unsanitary environments, and these incidents could cause serious harm or sickness. Nobody should have to work in these conditions.

“Fortunately many civil servants will be able to work hybridly, so can continue to work at home, but that simply isn’t an option for some roles in the civil service, and the fact that there is an alternative option of working from home does not release the government from its responsibilities under health and safety regulations.

“The Government Property Agency must take responsibility and control of this, clear the maintenance backlog, and guarantee the very basic right of a safe working environment for all civil servants.”

A government spokesman said: “We manage a large, complex property estate which has over 140,000 buildings, many of which are of historical importance. As is always the case with managing any large property portfolio, issues do arise with maintenance.

“That’s why we have invested £56m in improving and maintaining buildings, including fitting new and greener boilers and windows, and making health and safety improvements.”

Politics

Civil service to be ordered to cut more than £2bn from budget – as Reeves rules out tax rises in spring statement

Published

47 mins ago

March 23, 2025

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Civil service to be ordered to cut more than £2bn from budget - as Reeves rules out tax rises in spring statement

The civil service is to be told to cut more than £2bn from its budget as part of the government’s spending review.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to unveil spending cuts during the spring statement next week – and has reportedly ruled out tax rises.

The FDA union has said the government needs to be honest about the move, first reported by The Telegraph, and the “impact it will have on public services”.

Civil service departments will first have to reduce administrative budgets by 10%, which is expected to save £1.5bn a year by 2028-29.

The following year, the reduction should be 15%, the Cabinet Office will say – a saving of £2.2bn a year.

Administrative budgets include human resources, policy advice and office management, rather than frontline services.

The chancellor has also said she won’t be putting up taxes on Wednesday, telling The Sun On Sunday: “This is not a budget. We’re not going to be doing tax raising.”

Ms Reeves added: “We did have to put up some taxes on businesses and the wealthiest in the country in the budget [in the autumn].

“We will not be doing that in the spring statement next week.”

The chancellor has repeatedly insisted she won’t drop her fiscal rules which preclude borrowing to fund day-to-day spending.

:: Rachel Reeves, Mel Stride and Daisy Cooper appear on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips from 8.30am

Civil service departments will receive instructions from the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden in the coming week, The Telegraph reported.

“To deliver our Plan for Change we will reshape the state so it is fit for the future. We cannot stick to business as usual,” a Cabinet Office source said.

“By cutting administrative costs we can target resources at frontline services – with more teachers in classrooms, extra hospital appointments and police back on the beat.”

The move comes after the government last week revealed welfare cuts it believes will save £5bn a year by the end of the decade.

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FDA general secretary Dave Penman said the union welcomed a move away from “crude headcount targets” but that the distinction between the back office and frontline is “artificial”.

“Elected governments are free to decide the size of the civil service they want, but cuts of this scale and speed will inevitably have an impact on what the civil service will be able to deliver for ministers and the country…

“The budgets being cut will, for many departments, involve the majority of their staff and the £1.5bn savings mentioned equates to nearly 10% of the salary bill for the entire civil service.”

Ministers need to set out what areas of work they are prepared to stop as part of spending plans, he said.

“The idea that cuts of this scale can be delivered by cutting HR and comms teams is for the birds. This plan will require ministers to be honest with the public and their civil servants about the impact this will have on public services.”

Mike Clancy, general secretary of the Prospect union, warned that “a cheaper civil service is not the same as a better civil service”.

“Prospect has consistently warned government against adopting arbitrary targets for civil service headcount cuts which are more about saving money than about genuine civil service reform.

“The government say they will not fall into this trap again. But this will require a proper assessment of what the civil service will and won’t do in future.”

Politics

Crypto security will always be a game of ‘cat and mouse’ — Wallet exec

Published

1 hour ago

March 23, 2025

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Crypto security will always be a game of ‘cat and mouse’ — Wallet exec

Cryptocurrency wallet providers are getting more sophisticated, but so are bad actors — which means the battle between security and threats is at a deadlock, says a hardware wallet firm executive.

“It will always be a cat and mouse game,” Ledger chief experience officer Ian Rogers told Cointelegraph when describing the constant race between crypto wallet firms adding new security features and hackers finding more advanced ways to access victims’ wallets.

Rogers said, unfortunately, the most straightforward scams work best because scammers rely on people making simple mistakes.

“People give their 24-word phrases to people every day, so as long as that happens, then they are going to go for the low-cost tax,” he said, adding:

“Anyone who asks for your 24 words is a criminal.”

Rogers highlighted a common crypto scam where victims get tricked by replies under “any post on Twitter about crypto,” with messages like “DM me, and I’ll help you.”

“You know that scammers are always asking you for your 24 words,” Rogers said. CertiK chief business officer Jason Jiang recently told Cointelegraph that being aware of phishing attacks on social media can drastically increase a user’s crypto security.

Sometimes, scammers hijack the accounts of well-known industry figures to post malicious links, making it even harder for users to spot the scam.

In September 2023, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s account was compromised, leading to a fake NFT giveaway that tricked followers into clicking — only to drain over $691,000 from their wallets.

Cryptocurrencies, Security, Ledger, Hacks — *Source:* *CertiK*

Rogers emphasized that this will always be the case, just as bad actors aren’t limited to crypto — scams like fake emails from the “Nigerian president” have been around for years.

“The cost of the attack is always commensurate with the size of the prize, right?” Rogers said. In 2024, crypto hacks jumped 15% from 2023, with over $3 billion stolen.

Meanwhile, pig butchering scams have emerged as one of the most pervasive threats to crypto investors, with losses on the Ethereum network costing the industry $5.5 billion across 200,000 identified cases in 2024.

Pig butchering is a type of phishing scheme that involves prolonged and complex manipulation tactics to trick investors into willingly sending their assets to fraudulent crypto addresses.

Magazine: Dummies guide to native rollups: L2s as secure as Ethereum itself

Politics

Pakistan Crypto Council proposes using excess energy for BTC mining

Published

11 hours ago

March 22, 2025

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Pakistan Crypto Council proposes using excess energy for BTC mining

Bilal Bin Saqib, the CEO of Pakistan’s Crypto Council, has proposed using the country’s runoff energy to fuel Bitcoin (BTC) mining at the Crypto Council’s inaugural meeting on March 21.

According to an article from The Nation, the council is exploring comprehensive regulatory frameworks for cryptocurrencies to attract foreign direct investment and establish Pakistan as a crypto hub.

The meeting included lawmakers, the Bank of Pakistan’s governor, the chairman of Pakistan’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SECP), and the federal information technology secretary. Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb had this to say about the meeting:

“This is the beginning of a new digital chapter for our economy. We are committed to building a transparent, future-ready financial ecosystem that attracts investment, empowers our youth, and puts Pakistan on the global map as a leader in emerging technologies.”

The Crypto Council represents a radical departure from the government of Pakistan’s previous stance on crypto. In May 2023, former minister of state for finance and revenue, Aisha Ghaus Pasha said crypto would never be legal in the country.

Pasha cited anti-money laundering restrictions under the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as the primary motivation for the government’s anti-crypto stance.

Cryptocurrencies, Pakistan, Bitcoin Regulation — *The presence of Bitcoin miners can stabilize electrical grids. Source:* *Science Direct*

Pakistan follows the United States in embracing crypto

The government of Pakistan moved to regulate cryptocurrencies as legal tender on Nov. 4, 2024 — the same day as the elections in the United States.

Following the re-election of Donald Trump in the US and the Jan. 20 inauguration, Trump moved quickly to establish pro-crypto policies at the federal level.

On Jan. 23, President Trump signed an executive order establishing the Working Group on Digital Assets — an executive advisory council tasked with exploring comprehensive regulatory reform on digital assets.

The Jan. 23 order also prohibited the government from researching, developing, or issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

President Trump also signed an executive order creating a Bitcoin strategic reserve and a separate digital asset stockpile in March 2025 that will likely include cryptocurrencies made by US-based firms.

Magazine: How crypto laws are changing across the world in 2025