The privatisation of utilities was advocated as a policy which would enhance efficiency. Ultimately, these efficiency gains would benefit customers, resulting in lower prices and / or higher-quality outputs. In the electricity supply industry, privatisation was accompanied by a much more...

Since the privatisation of the water industry in 1989, issues relating to the pricing of water, charging structures and the conduct of the water regulators have rarely been out of public attention. Water prices have increased ahead of inflation, in some cases by more than 10 per cent per annum,...

In 1990, the Conservative Government published a White Paper on the environment, This Common Inheritance (HMSO, 1990). It summarised the achievements of the past, and advanced the concept of integrated pollution control (IPC). In place of the separate regulation of air, land and water pollution,...