
Staffordshire library part of £5m modernisation project
Hayley Coles, Staffordshire County Council's cabinet member for Communities and Culture, said: "This investment is for libraries that haven't been improved in recent years and the money will be spent entirely on improving the public areas."At Wombourne there will be a dedicated children's area, free Wi-Fi and access to the internet, as well as space for people to work on their own devices, access business start-up advice and dozens of other services."She added: "Although Wombourne's temporary library will be a little smaller, residents will be able to order from the service's whole stock as usual."We'll keep them updated as work progresses and I'm sure they'll be pleased with the final result when it reopens."As well as Wombourne, nine other libraries run directly by Staffordshire County Council, including Leek, Stone, Biddulph, Perton, Kidsgrove, Burntwood, Rugeley, Uttoxeter and Cannock, are in line for future investment.
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The Sun
29 minutes ago
- The Sun
I live in London for under £500 a month including bills thanks to my clever rental hack – anyone can do it
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Daily Mail
29 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Minister pressures water boss to refuse rise doubling salary to £1.4m amid furious row over exec pay and sewage leaks - but rules out nationalisation
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He added: 'Trust between the customers and the water companies is at the lowest point probably ever, and by paying their senior executives rises of that kind, what message are they sending to their customers? 'I really would urge them to think about this very, very, very carefully.' The Government is bracing for the release of a landmark review into the water industry, which could reportedly lead to the abolition of embattled water regulator Ofwat. The Independent Water Commission, led by former Bank of England deputy governor Sir Jon Cunliffe, will outline recommendations to turn around the floundering sector in its final report on Monday. The review was commissioned by the UK and Welsh governments as part of their response to systemic industry failures, which include rising bills, record sewage spills and debt-ridden company finances, although ministers have ruled out nationalising companies. The Government will respond to the recommendations in Parliament later on Monday. The review reportedly includes proposals to establish a new system of regulation, which is currently split between Ofwat, the Environment Agency and the Drinking Water Inspectorate. Ministers will announce a consultation that could lead to axing Ofwat, which oversees how much water companies in England and Wales can charge for services, according to the Guardian. Ofwat has faced intense criticism for overseeing water companies during the years that they paid shareholders and accrued large debts while ageing infrastructure crumbled and sewage spills skyrocketed. In an interview with the Sunday Times, Environment Secretary Steve Reed suggested he was in favour of a new model where regional boards managed water in their areas, including representatives from water companies, local authorities and other organisations. He said: 'I think the catchment-based model has a lot to commend it. Because if you can manage what's going into the water better, you can clean up the water faster.' But speaking to the BBC he again ruled out the possibility of nationalising the water industry, saying it would cost too much and take years during which pollution would get worse. The Environment Secretary told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: 'Nationalisation would cost upwards of £100 billion that we'd have to take away from the National Health Service and schools to give to the owners of the companies that are polluted.' He added: 'If we try to unpick the current model of ownership, it would take years, and during that period, pollution would get worse because the companies wouldn't invest knowing that they were going to be nationalised. The EA report found there were 2,801 sewage leaks last year, up from 2,174 in 2023. Just three firms were behind 81 per cent of the most serious - Thames, Southern and Yorkshire. The agency revealed consistently poor performance from all nine water and sewerage firms in the country despite its expectations for pollution incidents to decrease. Meanwhile, just two companies – Northumbrian Water and Wessex Water – had no serious incidents last year, meeting the Environment Agency's expectations to see a trend to zero serious pollution incidents by 2025. It also follows a report released by the Public Accounts Committee earlier on Friday, in which the cross-bench group of MPs called the level of pollution 'woeful' and recommended an overhaul of the regulation system. Under the Water (Special Measures) Act introduced by the Government last year, the watchdog will have greater powers to take swift action against polluting companies. 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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Nigel Farage says ministers are 'defrauding' taxpayer out of billions to fund green energy - as he says water firms should be part-nationalised (at a cost of £50billion)
Nigel Farage today accused ministers of 'defrauding' the taxpayer by pouring tens of billions of pounds into green energy. The Reform UK leader used a BBC interview to question why money was being used to underwrite wind and solar schemes 'for literally zero effect' on global CO2 emissions. Mr Farage distanced himself from Reform mayor and ex-Tory MP Dame Andrea Jenkyns, who this week said she did not believe climate change existed. But he said that even if humans were affecting the global weather system it did not justify the spending on green energy or axing high-pollution industries like steel making. Last week Reform's Deputy leader Richard Tice wrote to firms giving them 'formal notice' that the party would axe deals aimed at offering sustainable generators protection against market volatility. Speaking today on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Farage said: 'We have got ourselves stuck in this mindset: we believe man has an influence on changing the climate, I didn't deny that, I think that man does – it is impossible to think that seven or eight billion people can't have some effect. 'But whether that is a reason to transfer manufacturing to other parts of the world, whether that is a reason to have the most expensive energy prices for industry in the world and to make the poor poorer in society, for almost o benefit whatsoever, I doubt it.' However he also faced accusations that Reform's plan to part-nationalise UK water firms would cost taxpayers as much as £50bn. He insisted the proposal to put 50 per cent of firms into public ownership would cost 'a lot less' than the amount estimated by Defra and regulator Ofwat, saying they were 'part of the problem'. But despite repeated questions he could not put a figure on how much Reform's plan would cost, saying it 'depends what deal you do with the private sector investors'. He added: 'We don't know what negotiations we're going to have, but it doesn't need to be a big sum of money if you incentivise private capital to come in and do the job properly.' It came after Environment Secretary Steve Reed again ruled out the possibility of nationalising the water industry, saying it would cost too much and take years during which pollution would get worse. He told Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: '(Full) nationalisation would cost upwards of £100 billion that we'd have to take away from the National Health Service and schools to give to the owners of the companies that are polluted.' He added: 'If we try to unpick the current model of ownership, it would take years, and during that period, pollution would get worse because the companies wouldn't invest knowing that they were going to be nationalised. 'So instead of me sitting here telling the public that we're going to halve sewage pollution over the next five years, I would instead be sitting here saying we're going to play around with ownership and pollution will get far worse.' Mr Tice wrote to energy companies urging them not to invest in the latest round of green energy contracts, known as Allocation Round 7 (AR7). Mr Tice said he had put the companies on 'formal notice' that their investments were 'politically and commercially unsafe' as a future Reform government would seek to 'strike down all contracts signed under AR7'. But he later told the BBC that Reform would not renege on contracts, only oppose any 'variation'. Reform has made opposition to net zero a major part of its platform since the last election. Earlier in the year Mr Tice pledged to 'wage war' on the policy while Greater Lincolnshire mayor Dame Andrea told Times Radio on Thursday she did not believe climate change was real. In a report published last week, the OBR estimated tackling climate change would cost the Government £30 billion a year, largely in lost income from taxes such as fuel duty. But it also warned that failing to act presented a 'more significant fiscal cost' because of damage caused by climate change.