Michael Gove hauls in water bosses over failure to stop leaks amid driest summer in decades
2 min read
Major water company chief executives have been called in by Michael Gove to explain why they have not met targets to clamp down on leaks.
Eight of the 18 English water companies missed their targets last year, and will be invited to the meeting.
South Staffordshire, Bristol, Severn Trent, Portsmouth, Yorkshire, Essex and Suffolk and Thames Water all failed to meet conditions agreed with water regulator Ofwat.
Mr Gove said that customers expect a "reliable and resilient water supply" despite low levels in some reservoirs and the introduction of a hosepipe ban by United Utilities from next week.
The meeting comes as a pre-arranged meeting with farmers was due to take place to discuss the effect on food supplies of the recent heatwave.
The UK has seen the driest start to the summer since 1961 with rainfall last Thursday and Friday the first in weeks.
Mr Gove said that firms "have much more to do to tackle leakage", adding: "That is why I have repeatedly made clear that companies must improve and recently wrote to them to outline my expectations during this period of dry weather.
"Next week I will ask the chief executives of the water companies that have failed to meet their leakage targets to a meeting at Defra to discuss how they are going to address this serious issue and improve their performance."
National Farmers' Union (NFU) president Minette Batters said the lack of rainfall had been “hugely challenging" for farming, ahead of Wednesday’s "drought summit", and that recent rainfall "won't mitigate the many issues farmers are experiencing".
She said: "There could be serious concerns for many farmers if this extended spell of warmer, drier weather continues as the long-range forecast suggests."
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