UNISON, one of the UK’s largest trade unions, is partnering with the Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU) to produce two key reports on the water industry in the UK.
Announced in a UNISON opinion piece calling for change in the water industry, the news comes as World Water Day on 22nd March served as a reminder that water is a human right and public good.
UNISON is one of the UK’s largest trade unions, with 1.3 million members. It represents staff who provide public services in the public and private sector.
The first piece of research commissioned from PSIRU is an update of UNISON’s landmark report, Clean Water: A Case for Public Ownership, which argues for a publicly-owned water industry in England and sets out how this can be achieved. This report will be updated to include new data and take stock of the ongoing crisis in the water industry that has escalated since the report was first published.
The second is a new piece of research that examines the approach of successive UK governments of pursuing economic growth through cutting regulation and reducing the ability of regulators, including those working in environmental protection, to maintain an effective oversight of the water industry. The new report will examine the prevailing view in government on the relationship between environmental regulation and economic growth, and what this has meant for the water industry and its impacts on the natural environment.
It will also explore an alternative approach, where a well-resourced environmental protection sector alongside a publicly owned water industry can work together to create an industry that is good for the environment, for customers, and workers – at the same time as creating many new jobs across multiple sectors.
UNISON will launch both reports at its annual delegate conference in Brighton in June.
Read the full UNISON article, Opinion: The case for change in the water industry.
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