Eight regional water councils planned to set local investment priorities in England
Local leaders have until the end of the year to propose how the councils should run. Each will draw up a plan for its region covering water quality, flooding, drought and future supply.
England is to get eight regional water councils that will bring local leaders, customers and businesses together to agree what the water system in their area should prioritise, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced on Thursday.
The plan moves part of the decision-making on water, currently taken nationally, to a regional level. Each council will be expected to set the priorities for its region on sewage and water quality, flooding, drought and future water supplies, and in doing so help shape billions of pounds of investment in water and flood infrastructure.
Proposals due by the end of the year
Local leaders have been asked to send in proposals by the end of the year on how they want to run the new bodies. Once a council is set up, it will draw up a plan for its region that sets out:
- the biggest pressures on the region's water system
- the choices that need to be made
- the public and private investment that could help address them
Separately, the government says mayors will be given new powers relating to water companies through a strengthened Water Bill. The announcement does not yet name the eight regions or say what those mayoral powers will be. Defra says more detail on its approach to the water industry will come in the government's 10-year plan for Britain.
Greater Manchester and East Anglia
The department points to two existing arrangements as examples of regional planning that the councils will extend across England. In Greater Manchester, an Integrated Water Management Plan has brought planning, regulation and investment together, and improved drainage there has supported town-centre regeneration. In East Anglia, Water Resources East brings partners together to deal with water scarcity, including the limits it places on growth in Greater Cambridge.
The government presents the councils as part of its wider aim of moving power out of Westminster. The mayors of West Yorkshire, the East Midlands and Greater Manchester backed the plan in statements issued with the announcement, as did Wildlife and Countryside Link, The Wildlife Trusts and The Rivers Trust. Wildlife and Countryside Link said the councils would need the powers and funding to deliver.
