Environment Minister Phil Woolas has announced that the next phase of a programme to help farmers tackle the causes of harmful water pollution is taking shape.

The Government has confirmed that it will continue to support the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (RCEP).

Ofwat has published a position paper on water charges and company profits.

Nearly 12 months on since unprecedented rainfall led to widespread flooding in England and parts of Wales, the Environment Agency has completed 34 flood defences to increase protection to more than 30,000 homes and signed up 73,000 more people to its free flood warning service.

Water companies would face targets to help customers save more than 23 million litres of water a day (Ml/d), under new proposals published by Ofwat.

The Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS), the economic regulator for Scottish Water, has issued its annual report for 2007-8.

Ofwat has written to the water and wastewater companies setting outs its guidance on how it expects each company to design its public sewerage system to deliver best value for consumers over the long term.