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Major review into England and Wales’ water sector says regulator should be scrapped
Ofwat, the water regulator for England and Wales, should be overhauled and replaced by an “integrated” watchdog for the industry, according to an independent review of oversight of the sector led by former Bank of England deputy governor Sir Jon Cunliffe.
The report, commissioned amid mounting public anger about pollution, rising bills and executive pay, says Ofwat should be replaced by a single body in England and another one in Wales.
The report also advises removing the regulatory roles of the Environment Agency and Natural England, which monitor the sector’s impact on nature, such as companies illegally dumping sewage into waterways.
Instead, a “joined-up” and “powerful” single integrated water regulator should be established, according to the recommendations.
The report also proposes stronger regulation on abstraction, sludge, drinking water standards and water supply.
You can read more on what was contained within the major review in our business live blog.
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Farage’s plans to reform criminal justice system criticised ahead of speech
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics.
Nigel Farage is to lay out plans that he claims would end all early release schemes for sex offenders and serious violent offenders if he were to become prime minister.
In a speech in London later today, the Reform UK leader will also reportedly promise to build 30,000 new prison places to tackle the overcrowding crisis, appoint 30,000 more police officers within five years and deport 10,400 foreign offenders currently in British jails.
He has not said how these policies will be funded and will likely face questions on how he would negotiate return agreements for foreign offenders.
Some of his promises – like sending some of the most serious criminals to overseas jails, including in El Salavdor – will also likely face serious legal obstacles if they were ever realised.
Nigel Farage is set to make a speech about the criminal justice system in a speech later today. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA
Farage, whose Reform party is leading many polls, was quoted by the Daily Telegraph as having said:
Reform UK will be the toughest party on law and order this country has ever seen. We will cut crime in half. We will take back control of our streets, we will take back control of our courts and prisons.
We are expecting more details on Reform’s plans at around 11am. Reform’s attempt to woo voters with a tough on crime message stands in contrast to the proposals recently suggested by Sir Brian Leveson, a former senior judge who was asked by the Lord Chancellor to come up with ways to reduce the backlog of cases in the criminal courts.
Recommendations in the report included increased use of out-of-court resolutions, greater use of rehabilitation programmes and health intervention programmes and increasing the maximum reduction for entering a guilty plea at the first opportunity from 33% to 40%.
Diana Johnson, the policing minister, said that Reform is not serious about implementing real changes to the criminal justice system as the party “voted to try to block measures to crack down on knife crime, antisocial behaviour, shop theft and child sexual abuse”.
“They should focus more on practical solutions to support our police, combat crime, deliver justice for victims of crime, rather than chasing headlines, spouting slogans and trying to divide communities,” she added.
Here is the agenda for the day.
09.45am: Sir Jon Cunliffe, Independent Water Commission chair, to give speech.
11am: Nigel Farage to make a speech in London on the criminal justice system.
13:00pm: Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign press conference in Sheffield.
14.30pm: Keir Starmer to appear at the Liaison Committee.
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