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THE GOVERNMENT must take action now to prevent parts of southern England running out of water within 20 years, according to a National Audit Office report published today. The country’s total water supply is forecast to drop by 7% by 2045 because of climate change and the limits of sustainable abstraction. Almost all of the public water supply is obtained through...

PSYCHOLOGISTS at the University of Sheffield have launched a study of the mental health and social impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic to understand how they affect the mental health and behaviour of UK citizens. A team of experts, led by Professor Richard Bentall at the University of Sheffield, are surveying 2,000 people in the UK now, and again in a...

THE UK should invest in better understanding of diseases in wildlife populations, and the routes to these becoming human diseases to drastically reduce the risk of future global pandemics like COVID-19. That is the conclusion of scientists at Zoological Society of London Institute of Zoology, which specialises in understanding so-called ‘zoonotic diseases’ – those that transfer from wildlife to humans. Dominic...

HINKLEY Point C site remains operational while the government faces pressure to stop non-essential construction work to prevent spreading of the Coronavirus, EDF announced this morning. The company stated to have taken measures to protect its employees and will be taking additional steps in response to the pandemic. On Tuesday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said those who cannot do their jobs...

OFGEM has announced it is to review its work plans for 2020 in light of the coronavirus pandemic. An Ofgem spokesperson told Current±: “From Wednesday 25 March we will temporarily pause the publishing of new information on our website, with the exception of legally required releases only.” The statement goes on to detail that alongside legally required releases, there will be...

NOTTINGHAM City Council's energy company has revealed a significant loss of £23.1m for the period April 2018 to March 2019. The accounts, which were sent to Companies House yesterday, had been due to be published at the end of last year. The publication of the accounts also confirmed the cash loan position of Robin Hood Energy at £20.2m as of March...

OFWAT has made its submission to the Competition and Markets Authority after four of the 17 water companies appealed against the outcome of Ofwat’s recent price review. The price review sets the outcomes water companies should deliver for customers and the environment, and the price that customers will pay over the next five years. Rachel Fletcher, Ofwat Chief Executive, commented: “Our...

E.ON has partnered up with Octopus Energy, as the German company aims to revamp its UK retail business and shift away from the Npower brand. E.ON said on Monday the deal would speed up profit growth in a market hit by stiff competition and a regulatory price cap, according to Reuters. The German group acquired large parts of Innogy, including the...

Following Boris Johnson’s announcement banning all unessential travel, everyone but Key- and front-line retail workers are staying home to look after their own physical health and that of others. Whilst we urge everybody to comply with this instruction, confinement can introduce challenges to our emotional well-being. We are living in unprecedented times. Nobody quite knows what will happen next and everyone...

BARCLAY slashed its oil price forecasts for 2020 earlier this month, citing OPEC’s failure to convince its allies including Russia to cut production further, which led to Saudi Arabia saying it would raise its output in April despite sluggish global demand. The bank lowered its 2020 Brent price forecast to $43 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate price outlook to...