Up to £11m in water company fines will be reinvested to improve waterways, government says
Up to £11 million from water company fines will be reinvested in schemes to improve waterways and wetlands, the government has said.
The Water Restoration Fund – which has now opened for applications – will offer grants to local groups, charities, farmers and landowners to help them improve rivers, lakes, streams and wetlands where illegal pollution has occurred.
Initiatives that could be given money might include schemes to create wetlands, boost wildlife and river habitats, and improve public access to green spaces.
The cash will come from fines and penalties issued to water companies for environmental breaches such as dumping sewage.
The £11m will be allocated to schemes in the areas where the water companies accrued the fines and penalties, the Environment Department (Defra) said.
These are: Anglian Water, £3,085,000; South West Water, £2,150,000; Thames Water, £3,334,000; United Utilities, £800,000; and Yorkshire Water, £1,600,750.
The fund is the government’s latest attempt to crack down on pollution caused by water companies and comes in the face of growing public anger over the state of England’s rivers and coastal waters.
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Environment secretary Steve Barclay has said the government is “taking tough action to ensure our regulators are well-equipped to hold those who pollute them to account”.
“Community-led projects are vital to improving and maintaining water quality across the country, and this fund will help build on that success,” he said.
Members of the public at a Surfers Against Sewage protest in Bournemouth last year. Pic: PA
‘This is spare change for water firms,’ say government critics
In response to the announcement, Labour said the Conservatives “pretend they care” about England’s waterways.
Steven Reed, Labour’s shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, said: “The Conservatives have spent 14 years letting water companies pump record levels of raw sewage into our rivers.
“In the dying days of a failed government, it’s a bit late for them to pretend they care.”
If Labour wins this year’s general election, Mr Reed has vowed that the party will “put the water companies under tough special measures” including “making water bosses face criminal charges for illegal sewage dumping”.
Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats have claimed the government has “sat idly by whilst water firms commit environmental destruction”.
Their environment spokesperson Tim Farron said: “This is spare change for these water firms, who have made billions of pounds under this Conservative government’s watch.
“Frankly, this is an insultingly small amount and a slap in the face for communities blighted by the sewage scandal.”
Business
Ex-Post Office head of IT says Paula Vennells ‘hoped to avoid’ inquiry – and reveals she blocked her number
A former Post Office executive has said she was forced to block ex-boss Paula Vennells’ phone number after the ex-CEO called multiple times asking for help to avoid an independent inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal.
Lesley Sewell, previously the company’s head of IT, told the Post Office inquiry on Thursday that former CEO Ms Vennells had reached out to her four times between 2020 and 2021.
Ms Sewell said that she blocked Ms Vennells’ number due to discomfort with the contact.
In her witness statement to the probe, Ms Sewell said that one of Ms Vennells’ emails referenced the need to fill in memory gaps regarding Horizon and “Project Sparrow”, a committee addressing issues with forensic accountants who identified flaws in the accounting system.
“Paula contacted me on four occasions in total. I recall blocking her number after the last call as I did not feel comfortable with her contacting me,” Ms Sewell said.
“I had not spoken to Paula since I had left POL [Post Office Limited] in 2015.”
Lesley Sewell giving evidence to the Post Office inquiry. Pic: PA
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According to Ms Sewell’s testimony, former chief executive Ms Vennells said that she had “been asked at short notice” to appear before a parliamentary select committee on “all things Horizon/Sparrow and need to plug some memory gaps”.
Ms Sewell says Ms Vennells added: “My hope is this might help avoid an independent inquiry but to do so, I need to be well prepared.”
Ms Sewell, who struggled to contain her emotions and broke down in tears while giving her oath at the start of her inquiry evidence, was offered support and breaks as needed by chairman Sir Wyn Williams.
Sir Wyn told the former executive: “Ms Sewell, I appreciate this may be upsetting for you, Ms Price will ask you a number of questions in a proper and sensible manner, but if at any time you feel you need a break, just let me know, all right?”
Lesley Sewell taking the oath at the Post Office inquiry. Pic: PA
The Post Office has faced significant scrutiny following the ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office which highlighted the Horizon IT scandal.
The faulty system led to the prosecution of more than 700 sub-postmasters between 1999 and 2015, with many still awaiting full compensation despite government announcements regarding payouts for those with quashed convictions.
London City Airport will on Thursday name its first permanent female chief executive as it targets approval of an expansion plan that would create nearly 1,500 jobs.
Sky News understands that the Docklands airport has told staff that Alison FitzGerald, who has been co-CEO since January alongside finance chief Wilma Allan, has landed the role.
A woman wearing a face mask walks by London City Airport, which suspended its operations during the pandemic
She replaces Robert Sinclair, who left in January after six years to become boss of the High Speed 1 rail link.
The airport is owned by a consortium of Canadian pension funds and Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund, which have backed a plan to increase its annual passenger traffic from about 6.5m to 9m.
It is appealing against Newham Council’s rejection of a planning application that would see it extend operating hours at the site, which is popular with City commuters.
The airport’s proposals include no increase in the annual number of flights and, in what it claims is a first for a UK airport, a commitment that only cleaner, quieter, new generation aircraft will be allowed to fly in any extended periods.
The runway at London City Airport
The appeal is being reviewed by the Independent Planning Inspector.
Its change of leadership makes London City the second of the capital’s airports to name a new CEO in quick succession, following the arrival at Heathrow of Thomas Woldbye last year.
“London City delivers one of the best passenger experiences in the UK and I’m committed to building on this success even further,” Ms FitzGerald said.
Representatives of Thames Water’s multinational syndicate of shareholders are poised to quit as directors of its corporate entities after refusing to inject the billions of pounds of funding required to bail it out.
Sky News has learnt that a number of board members at companies connected to Kemble Water Finance, Thames’s parent, are expected to resign in the coming days.
City sources described the move as “the logical next step” after the owners of Britain’s biggest water utility said they would not commit more than £3bn to help upgrade its ageing infrastructure and shore up its debt-laden balance sheet.
A default on part of Thames Water‘s holding company debts last month has raised the prospect that the company is heading towards special administration, a form of insolvency that would effectively leave the government liable for managing a utility firm which serves nearly a quarter of Britain’s population.
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Thames Water under threat
Thames Water is owned by a group of sovereign wealth funds and pension funds from countries including Abu Dhabi, Australia, Britain, Canada and China.
A number of the investors are represented on boards which sit at various points in the group’s labyrinthine capital structure.
It was unclear on Wednesday whether Michael McNicholas, a representative of the giant Canadian pension fund Omers and who sits on the board of Thames Water Utilities Limited, was among those in the process of stepping down.
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Along with the rest of the privately owned water industry, Thames Water faces a crucial moment next month when Ofwat, the industry regulator, publishes its draft determination on companies’ five-year business plans.
The draft rulings will be subject to negotiation before final versions are published in December.
Thames Water and a spokesman for Kemble declined to comment.
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