UK water companies ordered to cut bills by £50 by 2025 – The Guardian

Posted December 16th, 2019 in consumer protection, fees, news, water, water companies by tracey

‘Ofwat, the water regulator, has ordered water companies in England and Wales to cut bills for customers by £50 over five years and spend £51bn on improving services and investment in infrastructure.’

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The Guardian, 16th December 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Councils and housing associations “face multi-million pound refunds to tenants after water re-selling test case in High Court – Local Government Lawyer

‘Local authorities and housing associations could face having to refund millions of pounds to tenants after a council lost a test case in the High Court on water re-selling, it has been claimed.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 2nd December 2019

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Après nous le déluge – rents and water resellers – Nearly Legal

Posted December 2nd, 2019 in landlord & tenant, local government, news, rates, rent, water by tracey

‘Royal Borough of Kingston-Upon-Thames v Moss (2019) EWHC 3261 (Ch). Ever since Jones v London Borough of Southwark (2016) EWHC 457 (Ch) (our report), the position on water rates taken as rent by a number of London Councils and Housing Associations under agreements with Thames Water has been conflicted. Some councils (including Southwark) refunded tenants the ‘discount’ that they had received. Other councils did nothing, and frantically tried to settle and defence to rent arrears possession proceedings that raised the water rates point (not always successfully), in the hope and expectation that someone else would take another case to the High Court and overturn or distinguish Jones.’

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Nearly Legal, 1st December 2019

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Anger as River Teifi pollution plant avoids prosecution – BBC News

Posted September 3rd, 2019 in accidents, animals, environmental protection, fines, news, pollution, prosecutions, Wales, water by sally

‘Anglers are “appalled and dismayed” at the decision not to prosecute a company that polluted a river, killing about 18,000 fish.’

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BBC News, 2nd September 2019

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Environmental Law News Update – Six Pump Court

Posted July 3rd, 2019 in canals, charities, environmental protection, news, sanctions, waste, water by sally

‘In this latest Environmental Law News Update, Christopher Badger considers the decision by Ofwat to impose a financial penalty on Southern Water for failings in the performance of its wastewater operations, the imposition of over £3.7 million of civil sanctions on charitable organisations for environmental offences and further developments in the Manchester Ship Canal case.’

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Six Pump Court, 26th June 2019

Source: www.6pumpcourt.co.uk

Southern Water faces prosecution after record £126m penalty – The Guardian

Posted June 25th, 2019 in compensation, fines, news, prosecutions, waste, water by sally

‘Southern Water faces prosecution by the Environment Agency after being handed a record £126m penalty by the water regulator over “shocking” failures at its sewage treatment sites.’

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The Guardian, 25th June 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Environmental Law News Update – Six Pump Court

Posted December 14th, 2018 in brexit, environmental protection, news, water by sally

‘In this latest Environmental Law News Update, Charles Morgan, Gordon Wignall, Christopher Badger and Mark Davies consider the EU Exit Legal Position on the Withdrawal Agreement and the Attorney General’s Legal Advice, the Draft National Policy Statement for Water Resources Infrastructure and an important case about the courts’ approach to the balance between private rights and the public interest.’

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Six Pump Court, 10th December 2018

Source: www.6pumpcourt.co.uk

Landlord fined £25,000 over lack of hot water for disabled tenant – The Guardian

‘The wife of Britain’s most controversial buy-to-let landlord, Fergus Wilson, has been ordered to pay £25,000 in fines and legal costs after a court ruled that she had failed to supply hot water to a disabled tenant.’

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The Guardian, 12th December 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

Court of Appeal clarifies right to relief from forfeiture – OUT-LAW.com

Posted May 29th, 2018 in canals, forfeiture, licensing, news, water by sally

‘The High Court was entitled to use its discretion to grant Vauxhall Motors relief from forfeiture of its licence to discharge surface water into the Manchester Ship Canal, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 25th May 2018

Source: www.out-law.com

Water into gas should not go – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted February 5th, 2018 in appeals, compensation, energy, news, repairs, water, water companies by sally

‘When the supply of gas to your house fails, you are entitled to compensation from the gas undertaker for the inconvenience. If that failure has been caused by another utility’s burst water main, the gas undertaker may seek to recoup its expenses for repair to its own infrastructure and the compensation it has had to pay out to consumers. A simple enough picture.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 3rd February 2018

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

London council tenants in line for water payouts – BBC News

Posted January 31st, 2018 in local government, news, repayment, water by sally

‘Councils in London have set aside millions of pounds and thousands of tenants may be in line for payouts after a landmark legal ruling over water charges.’

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BBC News, 31st January 2018

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Plastic microbeads ban enters force in UK – The Guardian

Posted January 9th, 2018 in environmental protection, news, waste, water by sally

‘Plastic microbeads can no longer be used in cosmetics and personal care products in the UK, after a long-promised ban came into effect on Tuesday. The ban initially bars the manufacture of such products and a ban on sales will follow in July.’

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The Guardian, 9th January 2018

Source: www.theguardian.com

Alternative cremation option “on hold” – Law & Religion UK

Posted December 21st, 2017 in burials and cremation, news, regulations, water, water companies by tracey

‘On 18 December 2017 the BBC reported ‘Water cremation’ plans on hold over environmental fears following an earlier refusal* by Severn Trent Water to grant a trade effluent permit to Sandwell Council who wished to operate an alkaline hydrolysis plant (“resomation”) for the disposal of human remains.’

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Law & Religion UK, 21st December 2017

Source: www.lawandreligionuk.com

Environmental Law News Update – Six Pump Court

Posted October 20th, 2017 in environmental protection, news, penalties, pollution, water by sally

‘In this latest Environmental Law News Update, Christopher Badger and William Upton consider penalties incurred by United Utilities for drinking water contamination, the publication of the Government’s Clean Growth Strategy, and Defra’s annual report on air quality.’

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Six Pump Court, 16th October 2017

Source: www.6pumpcourt.co.uk

United Utilities fined £300,000 after water contamination scandal – Daily Telegraph

Posted October 11th, 2017 in contamination, fines, news, water, water companies by tracey

‘A water company has been fined £300,000 after admitting polluting the drinking water of more than 700,000 people.’

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Daily Telegraph, 10th October 2017

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Northern Waters – Nearly Legal

Posted April 25th, 2017 in contracts, housing, local government, news, rent, service charges, water, water companies by sally

‘Rochdale BH is a social housing provider (of what was the council’s housing stock). The issue in this case – heard as a preliminary issue – was whether Rochdale BH was a water reseller under the terms of The Water Resale Order 2006 in that charges for water it made as a part of the rent.’

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Nearly Legal, 23rd April 2017

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Water and youth – Nearly Legal

Posted April 18th, 2017 in housing, landlord & tenant, local government, news, rent, water, young persons by sally

‘First, a Southwark rent arrears possession case, demonstrating that the effects of Jones v London Borough of Southwark [2016] EWHC 457 (Ch) (our report) rumble on in Southwark, despite the Council agreeing to repay overcharged water rates for the period 2001-2013 to the tenants. (Our thanks to Serdar Celebi, Cambridge House Law Centre and Tim Baldwin, Garden Court Chambers for the note).’

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Nearly Legal, 16th April 2017

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

When is relief from forfeiture available? – Tanfield Chambers

Posted February 17th, 2017 in canals, estoppel, forfeiture, licensing, news, water by sally

‘Property analysis: Is relief from forfeiture only available to claimants with proprietary or possessory rights? Barrister Robert Bowker, of Tanfield Chambers, considers the recent High Court decision in General Motors UK v Manchester Ship Canal Company.’

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Tanfield Chambers, 26th January 2017

Source: www.tanfieldchambers.co.uk

Mooring Rights – Falcon Chambers

Posted December 1st, 2016 in news, rights of way, ships, water by sally

‘Mooring involves attaching a boat to the bed or to the bank of a river. So the first stage of the analysis involves establishing who owns the bed and/or the bank.’

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Falcon Chambers, October 2016

Source: www.falcon-chambers.com

Chetwynd and another v Tunmore and another – WLR Daily

Posted June 17th, 2016 in causation, fisheries, law reports, statutory duty, water by tracey

Chetwynd and another v Tunmore and another: [2016] EWHC 156 (QB)

‘The claimants alleged that the excavation of lakes by the defendants on the defendants’ land, and the abstraction of underground water as a result, had adversely affected the claimants’ fishery, in particular the water levels in the ponds therein. They issued a claim against the defendants, inter alia, under section 48A of the Water Resources Act 1991, seeking damages for the loss of fish from the ponds, the loss of income from the fishery, the costs of remediating the ponds, expenses incurred and for loss of amenity. The defendants denied liability on the basis that, under section 48A, they could only be liable for loss or damage caused by the abstraction which could reasonably have been foreseen by them and that, in any event, the claimants had failed to prove on the balance of probabilities that the defendants’ abstraction of water by the excavation of the lakes was the effective cause of the claimants’ alleged loss or damage.’

WLR Daily, 4th February 2016

Source: www.iclr.co.uk