Future water resources
This briefing sets out the challenges for future water resources in England. It covers future water resource forecasts, policy and legislation, and planned actions to address the water supply deficit.

The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme is a mandatory carbon emissions reporting and trading scheme for large public and private sector organisations. It is currently under review and if it cannot be simplified to produce “very significant administrative savings” for businesses, then it will be replaced by “an alternative environmental tax” on which the Government will consult in Autumn 2012.
The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (83 KB , PDF)
The CRC (Carbon Reduction Commitment) Energy Efficiency Scheme (EES) is a mandatory carbon dioxide emission reporting and trading scheme, intended to promote energy efficiency in large public and private sector organisations. However, the 2010 Spending Review delayed its full implementation and changed the scheme’s details, and following Budget 2012, it is now under review through a DECC consultation.
Smaller organisations report emissions and are then placed in performance league tables, and larger ones do this too, but also have to trade allowances to emit carbon. A draft Order for the first trading round has just (May 2012) been laid, and the first performance league tables were published in November 2011.
The CRC EES has been criticised however by businesses, who say it is too complex, and complain that any revenues raised through trading will not be recycled to the best-performing companies as originally planned, but instead retained by the Treasury. Budget 2012 said that if the scheme cannot be simplified to produce “very significant administrative savings” for businesses, then it will be replaced by “an alternative environmental tax” on which the Government will consult in Autumn 2012
The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (83 KB , PDF)
This briefing sets out the challenges for future water resources in England. It covers future water resource forecasts, policy and legislation, and planned actions to address the water supply deficit.
The Water Bill was introduced in the House of Commons on 16 October 2024, and its second reading took place on 28 March 2025. The second reading debate was adjourned, and is scheduled to continue on 4 July 2025, if there is time in the sitting. The Library briefing provides an overview of the bill and background information.
Typical household energy bills increased by 54% in April 2022 and 27% in October 2022. Lower wholesale prices have led to falls in prices, but current bills are still 43% above their winter 2021/22 levels.