CIWEM slams coalition for failing on SuDS

The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) has slammed the government for failing to make any progress on sustainable drainage systems (SuDS).

In a review of the coalition government, CIWEM said there has been “no meaningful progress” against the 24 key areas it identified in 2010, with the rollout of SuDS being “poor”.

The report said the “issues around SuDS have not been resolved five years on” from the government coming into power, despite SuDS being a priority in the water white paper of 2011.

The coalition was also criticised for “lacking ambition” on water metering, and although CIWEM acknowledges that levels of metering has improved, it adds this is “not driven by government”.

CIWEM also criticised the government for failing to ensure that all new developments are part of a water neutrality programme, and for not making the water companies statutory consultees for new developments.

On the energy front, the CIWEM review also has a damning verdict on the coalition’s intention to be the “greenest government ever”.

It said: “The change in rhetoric from the top has been disappointing from the greenest government ever to cutting the green crap and going all out for shale gas as the environment has become portrayed as a costly brake on economic growth.

“There have been some positive measures introduced from the Energy Act to the Green Investment Bank but these could be far more ambitious.”

There was some praise for the coalition government, with the review applauding the resilience statutory duty the Water Act placed on Ofwat, and that renewable electricity generation has more than doubled over the course of the parliament.

Despite this, the review concluded that over he last five years there have been “a disappointing commitment to environmental protection.”