Commenting on the imminent publication of the government’s water reform white paper, UNISON head of environment Donna Rowe-Merriman said today (Monday):
“Water is an essential public service, not a cash cow.
“Decades of failure since privatisation won’t be fixed by changing the regulator or fiddling with the structure. Fundamental reform of the water industry is needed and the only way to do that is through renationalisation.
“Staff in water companies and the Environment Agency have been doing all they can to hold a broken system together. Years of underinvestment and weak enforcement have allowed pollution, asset stripping and rising bills to become the norm.
“Proper regulation depends on a well-funded Environment Agency with teeth. Secure jobs, proper training for staff and long-term workforce planning are essential to protecting water quality, tackling pollution, and managing flood and drought risk.
“Communities have paid a high price for failure. The UK needs a modern water system that delivers lower bills, higher investment and a healthy environment.”
Notes to editors:
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.
Media contacts:
Anthony Barnes M: 07834 864794 E: a.barnes@unison.co.uk
Dan Ashley M: 07508 080349 E: d.ashley@unison.co.uk
The post Strong regulation needed to overhaul failing water system, says UNISON appeared first on UNISON National.
Comments are closed.