Times letters: Dirty task of cleaning up the water industry

Sir, The environment secretary’s moves on cleaning up the water industry are welcome. It’s clear that present business norms are doing our environment or taxpaying citizens no favours. The proposed change to company rules and governance oversight, as well as ringfenced infrastructure spending, are important steps in realigning the interests of UK plc with those of wider society. Our new government describes itself as mission-led, and if it is going to deliver on its promises of sustainable economic growth, we need to see this way of working across the world of business too. Any move towards mainstreaming social enterprise and other mission-led business models will only benefit people and planet, putting the public back into public services.
Emily Darko
Director of policy and research, Social Enterprise UK

Sir, Over the past three years we have been charged an average of £170 (47p a day) for a constant, metered supply of clean, treated water to our home. This seems very little compared with the average of £1,826 we have spent on electricity and oil. Sewerage charges have averaged as little as £150 a year. There is a lack of realism about what we should reasonably be paying for an acceptable water and drainage system. No doubt improvements are due in the water companies’ financial behaviour and engineering practices, but if we and the regulator continue to starve the water system of the money it needs we will never get out of the mess we are in.
Christopher Daws
Lea, Wiltshire

Sir, Essential public sector industries should never have been privatised as private risk is ultimately a myth. Unfortunately, it is probably impracticable for the government to take back the already privatised industries, but there has to be a solution which prevents private investors from using “public assets” for their own benefit and leaving the costs to the taxpayers.
Raymond Sturmer
Ingatestone, Essex

Sir, Your leading article is right to say “no bail-out”. Capitalism can only survive if investment in infrastructure is made. Any fool can spend the weekly supermarket shopping money on just cakes.
Frank Keegan
Alderley Edge, Cheshire

Early release plan

Sir, I hope that as part of Sir Keir Starmer’s proposal to release 40,000 prisoners early (news, Jul 12) plans are being made to support the neurodivergent individuals among them with their reintegration into society. Our research suggests 70 per cent of the jail population may be neurodivergent against an estimated 15 to 20 per cent of the general population. This over-representation will continue unless we take a more holistic approach to rehabilitation, including helping neurodivergent individuals to understand and use their cognitive strengths and putting in place strategies to manage their unique challenges. In the criminal justice system, neuro-differences such as sensory overwhelm and slower information processing can lead to behaviour misinterpreted as aggression or non-cooperation, necessitating tailored support and reasonable adjustments.

Addressing the prison crisis must involve recognising and accommodating the needs of neurodivergent individuals. My organisation has had significant success when individuals have access to neuro-affirming courses and coaching. Considering the stresses within the criminal justice system, reducing prisoner numbers is probably wise, but without scaffolding in place, we won’t see the longer-term benefits.
Dr Nancy Doyle
Chief science research officer and founder, Genius Within

Sir, It may be true, as Dr Matthew Bach says (letter, Jul 10), that prisons contain some of the most vulnerable members of society, but let us not forget that the majority of those vulnerable members of society are the victims against whom these inmates committed their crimes.
Alec Gallagher
Potton, Beds

Tory membership

Sir, Your leading article (Jul 11) questions the role of the Conservative Party membership in choosing the leader. But if we have candidate shortlists imposed from above and no say in selecting the leader, there seems to be little point remaining as a member. It’s important that the party bigwigs realise they represent the membership rather than assuming we must simply do as we are told. Without the grassroots there would be no party.
Tony Narula
Wargrave, Berks

Pay must be fair

Sir, We take issue with Kimberley Lewis’s article “UK plc cannot thrive unless boardroom pay keeps up with America” (business, Jul 8). We are not against high pay for genuinely good-quality performance but this needs to be aligned to shareholder experience and to set companies up for long-term success. Very importantly, we also believe that a company’s remuneration structure needs to be fair across the entire workforce. We continue to be in a cost of living crunch where many workers and families are struggling so to talk about the doubling of what are already enormous salaries is, at a minimum, tone-deaf.

We believe that gross inequality poses a systemic risk. We want the UK to have a healthy economy and we firmly believe that for long-term sustainable returns, healthy companies depend on healthy communities. The conversation should not be about dramatically increasing pay for those at the top, but instead asking whether those further down the chain are being fairly compensated in relation to those at the top and whether they can afford to eat, heat and lead healthy lives. The new government says it is focused on rebuilding Britain. We believe we need to rebuild pay in a way that promotes long-term productive businesses that contribute to our country. To paraphrase Lewis, we should all remember that the consequences for those falling behind are far-reaching and will have an impact on the rest of us for years to come.
Peter Hugh Smith
CEO, CCLA Investment Management

Chinese exports

Sir, Ed Conway (comment, Jul 11) focuses on cars, but China has also become the dominant supplier of electrical goods, household wares (check out Ikea’s kitchen section) and, overwhelmingly, clothes. True, Chinese products are cheap, but that is largely dependent on the exchange rate. If the value of the pound should significantly decline, prices will go the opposite way. Decline is surely what will happen if Britain lacks the knowledge or will to produce things.
Christopher Tiller
London SW16

Nurses led changes

Sir, The change in nurse training from apprenticeships in hospitals to degrees highlighted by Ann Bradshaw (letters, Jul 11 & 12) was instigated by nurses themselves, through the Royal College of Nursing’s Project 2000, not imposed by any political party. I would agree that it has not improved UK nurse numbers and left us reliant on the recruitment of overseas nurses.
Karl Fortes Mayer
Retired consultant surgeon, Walsall

Sir, Using “blob” for new universities diminishes them by suggesting they are a single amorphous body, lacking individuality whereas a glance at university league tables demonstrates their diverging characters since formation. They are one of the great success stories of modern times, helping close the graduate gap with more successful countries.
Professor Chris Barton
Longton, Stoke-on-Trent

Footballing blues

Sir, I’m concerned that the government is considering giving the country a day off if England win Euro 2024 (news, Jul 12). Let’s be clear, it’s business owners who have to give staff a day off, not the government. If it goes ahead, I suggest companies are compensated by either a grant, or perhaps a personalised signed photo of the England team. Otherwise, company owners will be the real losers.
Martyn Pattie
Director, MP Chartered Architects, Ongar, Essex

Sir, Re-reading my scrapbook of press cuttings from the 1966 World Cup, it is interesting to be reminded of how much criticism Alf Ramsey received for his selections and tactics during the group stages (The Euros pullout, Jul 11). Performances were generally seen as lacklustre and the attack was thought to be lacking creativity. Three different wingers were tried in the early games before the “wingless wonders” emerged. Results in the semi-final and final changed the narrative, of course. This may sound familiar to followers of Euro 2024.
Don Pettingale
Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria

PM’s home turf

Sir, When we moved to Kentish Town in the early 1970s taxis wouldn’t come out from the West End for fear of not getting a fare back (“K-Town, it’s the new Chipping Norton, darling”, Times2, Jul 9). How times have changed — although there were police helicopters even then.
Lois Allender
Grateley, Hants

Word association

Sir, Bob Maddams says he has never heard the word swanky used with anything other than a hotel (letter, Jul 11). A lot of Irish people emigrated to America during and after the Great Famine of 1845. Those who succeeded and returned to Ireland in the 20th century were well off and well dressed and were called “real swanks” — an American expression, but still used in Ireland to describe someone who dresses well.
James Gallagher
Dungloe, Co Donegal

Sir, I have always considered Catholics as devout and Methodists as staunch (letter, Jul 12). Anglicans are usually referred to only as “practising”.
Ann Cross
Newcastle upon Tyne

Sir, Parker Knoll. We still sit in one.
Gill Henwood
Hawkshead, Cumbria

Sir, Eminent KC.
Michael Scott KC
Lautoka, Fiji

Godly ministers

Sir, We may have the most godless parliament in history (news, Jul 12), but we have one of the most godly front benches for a long time. The chancellor, the foreign secretary and the health secretary have all been explicit about their Christian faith, as have other members of the new government, notably Douglas Alexander, a minister in the Department for Business and Trade and a son of the manse in the tradition of Gordon Brown.
The Rev Professor Ian Bradley
St Andrews, Fife