Wonder what Ofwat (aka the “supplier of revolving doors”) will do about this, anything? – Owl

www.gov.uk 

A summary of the environmental performance of the 9 water and sewerage companies operating in England.

1. Chair’s foreword

The performance of many of the 9 English water and sewerage companies for 2022 is very disappointing: minimal improvement in star ratings compared to 2021. The sector only achieved 23 stars out of a maximum of 36 – albeit we did tighten the Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) again this year to drive improvements in standards across the sector.

The number of pollution incidents (from sewerage and water supply assets) worsened from 1,883 in 2021 to 2,026 last year. It is simply unacceptable to see a decline in this vital metric. 2022 was another missed opportunity for the companies to demonstrate they can improve their performance. Even worse, the early unconfirmed data for 2023 suggests that there has been no improvement this year either. I do hope this changes soon.

The disappointing results are surprising given that when I talk to the Chairs and CEOs of these companies, I get a real sense of their intent to do better. But why is this not happening yet? Primarily, I think, because of the time it takes for cultures to change in large organisations and because there are some deep-rooted problems which can only be solved by significant investment. Not just this year and next, but for some decades to come.

I am not universally gloomy though. Some companies are doing better and some metrics are improving. Credit to Severn Trent Water who retain a 4 star rating for the fourth year, and to United Utilities and Northumbrian Water who are not far behind. But all know they are at the top of a very poor league. We do see improvements this year in serious pollution incidents, down from 62 to 44, but nevertheless, performance is not where it should be.

Storm overflow discharges are under significant scrutiny, and rightly so. The data in this report briefly touches upon storm overflows, where we have seen some signs of improvement in 2022. But this should be expected. It was a notably dry year and storm overflows should be operated less in these conditions.

By the end of 2023, water companies will be required to monitor 100% of storm overflows, which will allow us to regulate using better evidence, and enable us to determine whether 2022’s improvements were the start of a trend. As we start our EPA review for the next period (2026 to 2030 data years) we will look to include this new information. In the interim, we will publish a spotlight report in autumn which will include more detail on the issue.

We know performance in recent years has seen trust in the water industry deteriorate. If it is to be rebuilt, we need to see profound, long-term change across the sector.

For all organisations which have a role to play in improving the water environment, this means stepping forward and taking collective responsibility. Water companies, regulators, government, NGOs and many others in general all want the same thing: better environmental outcomes, including cleaner rivers and seas.

Individually we have a clear responsibility to keep each other honest, not to allow for misinformation or to lose sight of scientific consensus. But more importantly, all organisations need to demonstrate that we can carry out our duties responsibly, and that we can work together.

First, we must treat the recent public apology from Water UK and the English water and sewerage companies as a signal of change. It is welcome and aligns with the sentiment shown through our annual performance meetings where all companies demonstrated a distinct shift in culture – towards improvement and better environmental outcomes.

Second, we must all play our respective roles to make sure we maximise the opportunities within the next 5-year price review. Together we can secure the greatest ever investment in our water environment. This will not fix all of the problems immediately, but it will enable significant long-term change and better environmental outcomes.

Third, the Environment Agency will play its part by transforming the way we regulate the sector. Over the next 2 years we will introduce additional specialist officers to focus solely on water company regulation while also introducing new tools which will turn huge quantities of monitoring information into regulatory intelligence.

This will give us the capacity to increase time spent regulating the water industry and enable our officers to focus on the highest risk sites and issues more easily. We welcome the announcement on unlimited variable monetary penalties which will also improve our enforcement powers and lead to better environmental outcomes.

The public, the environment and our waters demand change. If we can move forward together, not only will we demonstrate our individual delivery and contribution towards the government’s Plan for Water, we will also demonstrate our part in sharing collective responsibility in achieving better environmental outcomes. For people, the environment and our wildlife.

Alan Lovell, Chair of the Environment Agency

The Environment Agency recently released the  Water and sewerage companies in England: environmental performance report 2022.

This raises the performance of South West Water (SWW) from one to two stars. This still leaves SWW bumping along the bottom of the league table of nine alongside Southern Water. 

SWW  performed significantly below target (red) for the Supply Demand Balance Index metric.

A correspondent writes

The Times “Clean it up” campaign quotes, 13^th July:

“Susan Davy, the chief executive of Pennon, which owns South West Water, one of the former one-star companies, said the firm was on track to reach four stars next year.”

How in the world will she achieve this in a year?

The expanding new town Cranbrook has the main sewage treatment works at Countess Wear, adjacent to the Exe SSSI. SWW data for 2021 indicates that storm water was released on 72 combined occasions over a period of 230hrs +.  This plant cannot expand due to the SSSI. A new plant is not even in view.

So where will the sewage of the latest approved development of 870 houses go on a rainy day? The overloaded Exe? Then into Lyme Bay?  

What about  Honiton? The combined 2 waste water treatment plants had 226 discharge episodes of 2646 hours and if I add the nearby village of Gittisham (2021 census population 838)  the total from the Honiton area is 283 episodes and the colossal 3252 hours of pollution. All going to the small River Otter

How is Susan going to sort these two severe pollution incidents out by next year? Let alone the chronic case of Combe Martin in North Devon.,

I have not even mentioned our beaches. Are overflow tanks storage capacity being increased? When will we  be able to bathe pollution free after we have had a downpour like we have recently had? (And are having today?)

Perhaps we should not rely on the Star rating to solve our pollution incidents. It is clearly not worth the paper it is written on.   

A bike and car hire company that serves Exeter and parts of East Devon will cease operating this week. The business has been unable to cover costs and says it has been “severely affected” by the pandemic, cost of living crisis, high fuel prices and vandalism to bikes.

Mary Stenson www.devonlive.com 

Non profit company Co Cars and Co Bikes, which offered a short-term car and bike hire service, has confirmed its collapse. In recent weeks, users have reported to DevonLive that they have noticed fewer available bikes across Exeter and East Devon.

The business was first founded in 2005 with just one car but most recently was offering a fleet of 50 electric and low-emission shared cars and over 200 electric bikes. It is reported to have had a combined membership of over 10,000 people across the region, proving popular with people looking for convenient, low emission ways to get around. The scheme is also heavily used by people working in the gig economy, mainly delivery drivers for delivery apps such as Deliveroo and Just Eat.

In October last year, the company announced that Nic Eversett would be taking over as managing director from Mark Hodgson who went on a sabbatical and was due to return to the business this year as a senior consultant.

Today (July 13), Nic has said in a statement that Co Cars and Co Bikes will cease operation from tomorrow, July 14. He says the business has suffered from a turbulent few years, including the suspension of services during the pandemic, changes in travel habits and increased costs which has meant they have spent recent months fighting for additional funding but to no avail.

He also says that vandalism of bikes and supply chain issues have made it “impossible” to keep enough of the fleet on the roads. In February, they were forced to take a Co Bike station out of use in Cranbrook due to “thoughtless acts of vandalism”.

In a full statement, Nic said: “This is to inform you of the sad news that Co Cars and Co Bikes will shortly cease trading.

“Despite everyone working extremely hard to provide shared mobility services for Exeter and the wider South West, it has been increasingly difficult to generate sufficient income to cover our costs.

“Initially, we were severely affected by the suspension of our services for long periods of time during Covid. Post-Covid, changes in travel habits, exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis and drop in demand for business travel, have significantly impacted utilisation and revenue.

“These factors have been aggravated by high fuel prices and energy costs, contributing to greatly increased internal costs. Furthermore, vandalism of the bikes and supply chain issues (especially for e-bikes) have made it impossible for us to keep enough of the fleet on the road to make the business viable.

“During the last few months, the Board and management team have focussed on seeking additional funding to allow us to make the necessary changes to our business model to safeguard its viability. Unfortunately, we have been unable to attract the level of funding needed. Sadly, this means Co Cars and Co Bikes will cease to operate car and bike services by the 14th of July 2023.

“The Board has engaged the services of insolvency experts from Milsted Langdon LLP who have assisted the Board in seeking a purchaser for all or part of the business and who will be managing the process of taking the company, Co Cars Limited, into Administration. We expect that this will happen by the end of week commencing 17th July.

“The Board and I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has supported Co Cars and Co Bikes. You have helped Exeter and the Southwest experience the many benefits of using shared mobility services. We are devastated that Co Cars Limited won’t continue but we are proud to have helped reduce pollution and congestion on our streets whilst also increasing active travel.

“To that end, we are looking for potential new providers who could keep the cars and / or the bikes operating into the future as we passionately believe these services are an essential part of a low carbon, integrated public transport network.”

Exeter MP Sir Ben Bradshaw said: “[I am] gutted by the collapse of Co Bikes and Co Cars, Exeter’s brilliant not-for-profit e-bike and e-car sharing scheme. [They have] done so much to cut pollution, congestion, boost active travel and made access to e-cars affordable. Hope another provider comes in to save this vital service.”

Alison Stephenson www.devonlive.com

East Devon District Council (EDDC) has vowed to tighten up its safeguarding practices after shame was brought upon it when a councillor was able to remain on the authority despite being investigated for child sex offences. Councillors voted unanimously this week to approve the independent report into its actions following the arrest of John Humphreys, who is now serving 21 years for historic sexual offences on teenage boys. It has also backed the report’s recommendations to overhaul its safeguarding procedures to mitigate such a situation never happens again.

Former EDDC Conservative councillor of 12 years and an ex-mayor of Exmouth, Humphreys was jailed in August 2021 for offences in the 1990s and 2000s. The independent investigation into the council’s actions has revealed safeguarding failures that enabled him to continue as a councillor for three years after he was arrested in March 2016 and later be given the title of honorary alderman.

A company called Verita Consulting was asked to find out who at the council knew about the Humphreys’ investigation and his arrest before it became public knowledge, the processes involved in his appointment as alderman, and to delve into the safeguarding and governance practices of the council and find ways to improve.

The report concluded that a former monitoring officer became the only person to know of the police investigation when he was asked to attend a safeguarding meeting (LADO) in March 2016, but doubt was cast on this evidence when further details came out regarding a comment made in a meeting suggesting the CEO of the council might have also known. This, however, was fully investigated by Verita in a supplementary report, and dismissed, as they were unable to corroborate the statement.

David Scott from Verita told councillors at this Tuesday’s meeting: ‘We believe that with the exception of the former monitoring officer, no one at EDDC definitively knew that John Humphreys had been under investigation for these alleged sexual offences.

“No one who participated in the investigation brought forward to us any reliable information about Humphreys’ behaviour and his alleged offending, so we considered that in view of the strict confidentiality restrictions placed on the former monitoring officer by the Devon and Cornwall police, that he was unable to make anyone else aware of what he knew – and he didn’t do so. There was no action anyone else could have taken without that knowledge.

“We believe that being the only person at EDDC who knew about the allegations put the former monitoring officer in an extremely unenviable position. He was prevented from sharing the information he had with his line manager, the chief executive, with EDDC safeguarding lead and with other councillors.”

Mr Scott said it had been “a trial” to get EDDC officers to contribute fully and participate in the investigation, as they did not wish to be interviewed face to face, but said this was a “minor bump” on a long road and “we got as much evidence as we could in the end.” He also said getting documents from Devon County Council had been difficult.

He said no formal action could have been taken against Humphreys before he was convicted, and EDDC would have been obliged to rely on presumption of his innocence while investigations were underway.

Once the council became aware of the situation, officers worked swiftly to remove the alderman honour and “handled it very well” and this did something to mitigate the reputation of EDDC, added Mr Scott.

The report suggested there was a better way to recognise long service and assessment of merit, rather than positions on the council.

It also noted the lack of any safeguarding risk assessment or mitigation plans being developed and implemented across the three-year period that Humphreys, who did not formally work with children but did come into contact with them, was being investigated.

“Someone who allegedly committed serious sexual offences went on to hold positions of authority in EDDC,” said Mr Scott.

In its early interviews, Verita found a relatively limited awareness amongst some councillors about their safeguarding responsibilities. It was pleased, however, that training had been offered to all councillors.

Cllr Joe Whibley (Independent, Exmouth) mentioned the good work being done on safeguarding at the lower level in the authority but added: “I have found this whole thing really quite upsetting and really depressing that it has gone on this long.

“The problem here is that we have practices, but those practices couldn’t be actioned.

“Safeguarding is everybody’s responsibility, absolutely everybody’s, and we cannot shirk from that responsibility. We can presume innocence until guilt is established, but safeguarding duties, because they are duties, not optional extras, demand that appropriate actions are taken and quickly.

“Criminal proceedings and safeguarding measures are two different processes that run concurrently and this is basic safeguarding and those actions have not happened here, it seems.

“We must no longer avoid taking actions that are appropriate, necessary and demanded by law and we need to ensure that every single one of us from the very top to the very bottom have the correct mindset when it comes to safeguarding.”

A call was made for enhanced DBS checking for all councillors and better recording of documents and meetings.

Cllr Peter Faithful (Independent, Ottery ST Mary) said: “It’s all very well having all this training, but councillors need to be sure that they can feel comfortable coming forward even if the information they have is quite small and trivial or seemingly so as that could be very important.”

Verita reported many of the councillors they spoke to said they found raising issues or asking questions of any nature to be difficult. Some of these councillors cited a difficult working environment marred by conflict and accusations of politically motivated behaviours.

Deputy council leader Paul Hayward (Independent, Axminster) said: “This goes beyond politics and beyond corporation of councillors. These recommendations make sure the council does the right thing and above all recognises the victims of these heinous crimes by a former councillor of this authority

“We must do the right thing as an authority to try and put it right.”

Council leader Paul Arnott (Lib Dem, Coly Valley) asked councillors to reacquaint themselves with the courage of the victim in this case: “Without the victim and his persistence between 2004 and 2021- seventeen years that destroyed his life – Humphries would be at liberty, we would not be here having this debate, we would not be reviewing our own safeguarding processes and I think it’s beholden on everyone to consider that as they go home.”

A detailed action plan following the report’s recommendations include enforcing mandatory safeguarding training, setting up a working group for training needs, designating safeguarding champions, and making sure anyone invited to a LADO meeting should not go unaccompanied, will be brought to the council’s cabinet urgently.

Additional financial support for the supplementary report of £8,000 on top of the £45,000 budgeted for the main report was approved.