14 Nov 2024

Defra has launched a consultation on proposed reforms and technical amendments to the Bathing Water Regulations 2013.   Photo credit: Jens Meyers   The proposals include removal of automatic de-designation after 5 years of ‘poor’ water quality changes to the designation criteria of bathing sites removing the fixed dates of the bathing season from regulations […]

14 Nov 2024

The Environment Agency (EA) has published a consultation on its proposed updated national drought response framework. The EA is responsible for monitoring, reporting and acting to reduce the impact of drought on the natural environment.   Photo credit: Kazuend   The ‘Drought: how it is managed in England’ document is the updated version of the […]

14 Nov 2024

Ofwat, the economic regulator for water in England and Wales, has published a consultation on the proposed standards that all water companies are expected to achieve when using their priority services registers to support household customers in England and Wales from 1 April 2025 onwards.   Photo credit: Murilo Gomes   Priority services registers identify […]

24 Sep 2024

Plans to extend Scotland’s marine planning zones have been put out to public consultation for a total of 12 weeks. Extending local authority responsibilities Fish and shellfish farms require planning permission out to twelve nautical miles, however local authority responsibilities for planning controls currently only extend to three nautical miles. Under new proposals, the marine […]

20 Aug 2024

The Scottish government has proposed new fisheries management measures for 20 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Scotland’s offshore waters to enhance the protection and restoration of marine ecosystems. The proposed measures include either zoned or full restrictions on the use of specified fishing equipment, such as demersal mobile and static gear, at 15 of these […]

13 Aug 2024

The government is consulting on plans to double compensation payments for customers when their basic water services are disrupted. Subject to an eight-week consultation, the proposals will double payments for all existing standards and will more than double the payments for certain highly disruptive incidents, such as when water companies fail to provide notice of supply […]

07 Aug 2024

The government has published a new consultation seeking views on the proposed approach to revising the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in order to achieve sustainable growth in our planning system. The government is also seeking views on a series of wider policy proposals in relation to increasing planning fees, local plan intervention criteria and […]

31 Jul 2024

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has published four technical outputs as an early step in the process for the revision of the SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard. The SBTi announced the timeline and published the Terms of Reference for the review of the Corporate Net-Zero Standard in May 2024, ensuring that the Standard continues to […]