Lord Rupert Redesdale, who is also a Lib Dem peer and part of the coalition government, attacked Ofwat for not dealing with its environmental responsibilities.

Speaking as he introduced the second day of the first Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas 2010 exhibition and conference yesterday (July 8) Lord Redesdale questioned the continuing need for Ofwat.

He pointed out no one from Ofwat attended the exhibition or conference and no one from Ofwat took part in a round table held before the conference.

He said: “I’m personally going to go for the throat of Ofwat as an organisation and very much hope to get rid of it by the end of the year.

“The reason is Ofwat is failing to meets its sustainability duties. It really is failing to meet the challenge of sustainability.

“I find it incredible that they’ve not taken on board that they have responsibilities of carbon reduction and climate change.”

An Ofwat spokesman said they were ‘unaware’ of any invite to attend the event. He said: “Sustainability is central to our regulatory approach.

“We were one of the first regulators to outline our approach to climate change policy; the first to introduce carbon accounting; and we have approved schemes that will allow the sector to generate enough extra electricity from renewables to power 90,000 homes by 2015.

“Climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our time. We will need to work together to address these challenges in a way which offers value and protection to consumers both now and in the future.

“We have looked to take a lead on engaging stakeholders on these issues. In February we ran a joint climate change workshop with the Met Office.

“We have been running workshops with a range of stakeholders to understand views on issues around sustainable sludge, attendees have included Lord Redesdale.”

He also pointed out that over the next five years more than £4.5billion would be spent on maintaining and improving the environment and drinking water quality.

Luke Walsh

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