Labour places housing at heart of King’s Speech – what does that mean for the environment?

CIWEM Director of Policy Alastair Chisholm provides his initial reaction on some of the key Labour measures outlined by King Charles in today’s speech to Parliament.

Government's Commitment to Quality Infrastructure and Housing

The Government’s commitment to accelerating infrastructure and housing delivery as key foundations of growth and driven by planning reform is no secret, so we welcome the emphasis on this being high quality through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. Facing the teeth of a climate and nature crisis, this will need to be a low-carbon infrastructure which minimises its footprint on nature.

Urgent Need for New Water Infrastructure

New water infrastructure will be needed to enable the housing and growth the Government is targeting. But however quickly that might be constructed, it will not come on stream fast enough to fill the gap between available water supply and demand, given that government advisers warn we need to find another 5 billion litres per day by 2050.

Therefore, new housing must be water efficient. Building regulations must build on progress towards a mandatory water efficiency labelling scheme for fixtures and fittings and embed ambitious water efficiency targets, supported by this fittings-led approach. But the Government will need to go further – it will need to remove legislative blockers to water harvesting and reuse for non-potable uses like flushing toilets.

Mitigating Water Pollution and Drainage Issues

New housing must also not put any additional strain on water pollution. Finally implementing Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010, mandating sustainable drainage (SuDS) in new developments will stop 1.5 million homes putting untenable strain on sewer networks as the Government is driving water companies to roll out a major storm overflows improvement programme.

Need for Immediate Action on Water Efficiency and SuDS

Progress on water efficiency and SuDS since 2010 has been lamentable, with policies introduced by the last Labour government either frustrated, delayed or cancelled. The result is that we are little further on regarding the water impacts of housing than we were at that point. This is the Government’s opportunity to put that right – fast. That mustn’t get lost in any rush to bulldoze the blockers to rapid housing growth through planning reform.

The Role of English Devolution in Water Management

The English Devolution Bill offers scope to consider local and regional water needs and pressures when looking at development. We urge the Government to enable metro mayors to play a key role in planning water priorities in their regions and bolster welcome approaches like the Greater Manchester Integrated Water Management Plan as part of a strengthened approach to delivering water resilience and nature recovery at a catchment and regional scale.

Strengthening Water Regulation and Industry Oversight

The government’s commitment to strengthening the powers of the water regulator through the Water (Special Measures) Bill is welcomed and sorely needed. It must ensure that regulators have the powers, backed up by the capacity to properly regulate an industry, which, as the Prime Minister said, has got out of hand. This must be part of a wider, deeper programme of regulatory reform that focuses not just on the water industry but also on how pressures from agriculture, alongside toxic pollution from highways and chemicals, can be tackled more systematically.