United Utilities is among several water firms said to be facing legal action over claims it “underreported” incidents of sewage pollution.
The firm – which provides water and wastewater services right across the North West of England – joins five other water companies, Severn Trent Water, Thames Water, Anglian Water, Yorkshire Water, and Northumbrian Water, in potentially being taken to the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
As well as the claims of “underreporting” of sewage pollution incidents, the six water firms have also been accused of overcharging customers.
The water companies – which are the six biggest in England – could end up paying over £800 million in compensation to more than 20 million customers nationwide, if the cases are successful.
The claims are being brought by Professor Carolyn Roberts, an environmental and water consultant represented by Leigh Day Solicitors, who is alleging that water companies have broken competition laws by misleading both the Environment Agency, and the regulator Ofwat – adding that the “underreporting” of the number of sewage discharges has resulting in customers being “unfairly overcharged” for wastewater services.
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Professor Roberts is also claiming that, had sewage discharge reporting been “accurate”, it would have lowered customers’ bills.
United Utilities facing legal action over claims it ‘underreported’ sewage pollution / Credit: Cristi Ursea | Silvan Schuppisser (via Unsplash)
Today’s claims against United Utilities and the five other major water companies follows claims from campaigners that the River Severn is the most polluted in the UK, who also estimated that waste was pumped into the waterway on 2,600 separate occasions in 2021, Sky News reports.
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The claims also follow growing public anger over sewage being pumped into Britain’s rivers and seas.
The public’s backlash to this is what prompted industry body, Water UK, to issue an unprecedented public apology earlier this year for not acting quickly enough on spills, and also lead the organisation’s chair Ruth Kelly to admitting that campaigners were “right to be upset” about the current quality of rivers and beaches.
This time around though, however, Water UK has described Professor Roberts’s legal action as “highly speculative” and “entirely without merit”.
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BREAKING: first environmental competition class action case launched on behalf of millions of UK customers overcharged by water companies. Read the full story here: https://t.co/fcynt6nnW7https://t.co/A6rNayWLEk
A spokesperson for the organisation said: “This highly speculative claim is entirely without merit. The regulator has confirmed that over 99% of sewage works comply with their legal requirements [and] if companies fail to deliver on their commitments, then customer bills are already adjusted accordingly.”
Zoe Mernick-Levene, who is a partner at Leigh Day Solicitors, argued on the contrary that these claims are “hugely significant”.
She continued: ‘Not only is compensation being sought for millions of customers who have and continue to pay higher water bills, but we hope that it will also send a message to water companies that they cannot unlawfully pollute waterways and mislead their regulators without consequence.
“Customers put their trust in water companies, believing that they are correctly reporting these spillages and appropriately treating the sewage so it can safely be returned to the environment.
“Instead, our client believes they are misleading their regulators and customers are overpaying while England’s waterways are suffering as a result.”
The claims are being brought on an opt-out basis, meaning all water bill payers are automatically a part of the case unless they actively choose not to be – but first, the Competition Appeal Tribunal will need to decide whether the claims can go ahead.
Luxury Manchester gym Blok confirms permanent closure after weeks of uncertainty
Daisy Jackson
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure, weeks after the doors to the premium fitness facility mysteriously closed.
Around a fortnight ago, members began to arrive to their classes to find the gym on Ducie Street locked up and a forfeiture notice on the door – but at the time, Blok said that it was fighting to reopen.
Sadly, in an email sent to members today, its founder has confirmed that the studio is now permanently closed.
Blok – which has several very successful sites down in London – said that its relationship with its landlord has ‘broken down to a point where trust has been lost’.
The gym wrote that it’s been left with ‘no workable way forward’.
They said: “BLOK Manchester was a space built by our loyal and dedicated community. Whether you joined us for one class or one hundred, we are deeply grateful. You helped create something genuinely special in an incredible city.”
In the immediate future, they said they’ll be supporting the team of fantastic trainers who worked here, as well as looking after members.
Members will be contacted within a few hours with options and refunds owed.
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure. Credit: The Manc Group
CEO and founder Ed Stanbury said: “While this marks the end of a chapter, we don’t see it as the end of our story in Manchester. We’re already speaking with developers about potential future sites and remain committed to returning to the city when the time is right.
“Thank you for being part of our story so far. Let’s shape the future of wellness. The mission continues.”
Commenting on Blok’s Instagram post – its first in almost a fortnight – people have been sharing their sadness at the closure of its Manchester site.
One person wrote: “beautiful space, beautiful staff and beautiful community.”
Another said: “Sending love to all the instructors !! :(((( gutted”
Someone else commented: “THE BEST CLASSES. I’m gutted.”
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Emily Sergeant -
9th August 2023 
