Press release: Drought planning continues after hot summer puts pressure on environment

The National Drought Group has urged people to use water wisely following a meeting to discuss pressure on water resources and the environment following this summer’s heat wave.

The environment has suffered due to the driest May to July across England since 1921. The Environment Agency (EA) responded to a 330% increase in significant drought-related incidents as teams acted to protect wildlife and rescue fish struggling due to low river flows.

Numerous species, habitats, birds, trees and aquatic life have been affected by the hot, dry summer and high demand for water. EA hydrologists recorded ‘exceptionally low’ river flows for 5 weeks in a row, reservoir stocks for England as a whole were at historic lows for the end of July and soils were the driest on record in the North West.

The EA’s Chief Executive, Sir James Bevan, chaired the National Drought Group meeting and received updates from water companies, discussed ways to protect the environment and sustain support for farmers and businesses. Water companies were asked to outline progress against agreed action plans to maintain water supplies while protecting the environment. They reported that there are no current plans to bring in Temporary Use Bans (hosepipe bans) although water restrictions remain a possibility if rainfall in September is low.

The EA has taken a range of actions to respond to the impacts of dry weather including:

Supporting farmers by allowing more flexibility with water abstraction in order to safeguard food production and animal welfare.
Operating water transfers to help maintain river flows.
Increased monitoring and inspection of businesses abstracting water to ensure they are not taking more water than they need.
Issuing 4 drought permits to United Utilities at locations in Cumbria, should they be needed later in the year.
Not cleaning EA fleet vehicles and office windows to avoid unnecessary water usage.

Although August has seen dry periods interrupted by bouts of wet weather, the Met Office 3 month outlook for September to November forecasts that above average temperatures and slightly lower than average rainfall are likely.

Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency said:

Over the last few months of prolonged dry weather the Environment Agency, the water companies and many others have been working hard together to reduce the risk of water restrictions and balance the needs of the public, businesses and the environment.

Despite the recent rain, we will need to continue to collaborate closely as we move into autumn. All of us have a role to play in helping to protect the environment and maintain supplies. We encourage everyone to use water wisely.

Notice: EX16 8EU, LJ Heywood Limited: environmental permit issued

The Environment Agency publish permits that they issue under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).

This decision includes the permit and the decision document for:

Operator name: LJ Heywood Limited
Installation name: Hollyfield Farm
Permit number: EPR/KP3733JQ

Guidance: Land contamination pilot trials and small scale remediation schemes: RPS 215

If you comply with the conditions in this regulatory position statement (RPS) you do not need to apply for an environmental permit for a waste operation for:

site-specific pilot trials
small scale remediation schemes

Decision: Hornsea Two Offshore Wind Farm – Variation 1

In September 2016, the Secretary of State granted a Development Consent Order (DCO) for the Hornsea Project Two offshore wind farm. The pre-application, examination and DCO documents can be found on the Planning Inspectorate website.

The DCO authorises DONG Energy to construct and operate up to 2 offshore generating stations with a maximum capacity of 1800MW. The project is located adjacent to Hornsea Project One offshore wind farm in the North Sea and is located approximately 90km off the East Yorkshire coast. The development could comprise of up to:

300 wind turbines
2 offshore accommodation platforms
6 offshore HVAC collector substations
2 offshore HVDC converter substations
2 offshore HVAC reactive compensation stations
subsea inter-array electrical circuits
subsea cable connections to the shore

On 18 July 2017, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) received a request from DONG Energy to vary the Deemed Marine Licences contained within Schedules 9 and 11 of the Hornsea Two Offshore Wind Farm Order 2016.

The MMOs decision was to vary the DML as detailed in the Notice of Variation, effective from 26 September 2017.

Press release: CMA launches court action against viagogo

Following an investigation into the secondary ticketing sector, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) began enforcement action against 4 major secondary ticketing websites last November. As a result, 3 of those sites – StubHub, GETMEIN! and Seatwave – offered formal commitments in April to overhaul the way they do business.

However, despite being warned a failure to do likewise would result in court action, viagogo has not offered to make the changes the CMA considers necessary to bring it in line with the law. Legal proceedings have therefore been brought in the High Court.

Andrea Coscelli, CMA Chief Executive Officer, said:

People who buy tickets on websites like viagogo must be given all the information they are entitled to. It’s imperative they know key facts, including what seat they will get and whether there is a risk they might not actually get into the event, before parting with their hard-earned money.

This applies to viagogo as much as it does to any other secondary ticketing website. Unfortunately, while other businesses have agreed to overhaul their sites to ensure they respect the law, viagogo has not. We will now be pursuing action through the courts to ensure that they comply with the law.

The CMA is concerned that viagogo is breaking consumer law – with the result that customers are:

not being told if there is a risk that they will be turned away at the door
not being informed which seat in the venue they will get
not being told who is selling the ticket, so that they can benefit from enhanced legal rights when buying from a business
given misleading information about the availability and popularity of tickets – which has the potential to lead to them being rushed into making a buying decision or making the wrong choice
experiencing difficulties in getting their money back under viagogo’s guarantee when things go wrong
being offered tickets that a seller does not own and may not be able to supply

The CMA is therefore now seeking a court order to bring these practices to an end, and ensure that viagogo does not repeat historic failures to make its customers aware of the face value of tickets on sale through its site.

Given the importance of ensuring its concerns are addressed promptly, the CMA is also seeking an interim enforcement order from the court that, if successful, will put a stop to some practices in the period up until the full trial.

The CMA continues to work closely with partner agencies and enforcers to drive up standards in the sector.

Notes to editors

Further information on the sector wide investigation conducted by CMA.
Further information on the enforcement action conducted by CMA.
On 13 August, Ticketmaster announced that it will be closing its 2 secondary ticket platforms – Seatwave and GetMeIn! – and that from 13 August, no new events will be listed on these platforms. Ticketmaster will still allow tickets to be resold through ticketmaster.co.uk in the future, but it has said that it will only allow those tickets to be sold at the price originally paid or less. Ticketmaster has formally committed to making sure that this new resale function will comply with the commitments it provided to the CMA in April.
The key pieces of consumer protection legislation relevant to the CMA’s investigation are the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA), the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (CCRs), the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) and the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 (ECRs).
As an enforcer under Part 8 of the Enterprise Act 2002, the CMA cannot levy administrative fines but it can enforce the above legislation through the courts, and where appropriate, obtain additional measures to improve consumer choice, drive better compliance with the law, or obtain redress for consumers.
Media enquiries to the CMA should be directed to press@cma.gov.uk or 020 3738 6460.