Markus Andrews

Ousted ministers will only receive payoffs if they have served in government for more than six months as Sir Keir Starmer overhauls his appointments watchdog.After repeat examples of ministers receiving payoffs after only serving short stints, the prime minister has tightened eligibility for severance payouts.He has also scrapped the Advisory Committee for Business Appointments (Acoba) as part of the shakeup, replacing it with a new Ethics and Integrity Commission created from the Committee on Standards in Public Life.Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden, who is driving through the reforms, said: “This overhaul will mean there are stronger rules, fewer quangos and clearer lines of accountability.Michelle Donelan refused the offer of £17,000 in severance pay after a 36-hour stint as education secretary More

Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall has announced a review of the state pension age, opening the door for it to be increased. Ms Kendall, speaking in central London on Monday morning as she relaunched the Pensions Commission, warned of a growing threat of pensioner poverty unless there was major reform to the system.It comes as research by Age UK found that people looking to retire in 2050 are on course to receive £800 per year less than current pensioners.The government reviews the state pension age every six years, which is currently 66 but is already set to rise to 67 in 2028. By the by the mid-2040s it is scheduled to rise to 68. However, earlier this year, Denmark became the first country to raise it to 70 for those retiring by 2040 and after in a move which raised speculation other countries including the UK may follow.Liz Kendall More

Water regulator Ofwat will be abolished as part of an overhaul of a “broken” regulatory system, the environment secretary has confirmed.Steve Reed said the water industry is “broken” and firms have been fleecing the public under a “regulatory system that let them get away with it”.Speaking in south-west London, he said: “Our rivers, lakes and seas are polluted with record levels of sewage.”Steve Reed said the Tories let water companies get away with fleecing the British public More

The water regulator should be scrapped and replaced with a single body to restore trust in the beleaguered industry, a landmark review has concluded. Ministers should ditch Ofwat and simplify the system with a powerful regulator looking at every area, according to the Independent Water Commission’s final report. The report, led by former Bank of England deputy governor Sir Jon Cunliffe, recommended far-reaching changes to the way the water system is regulated as it called the current landscape “fragmented and overlapping”. Sir Jon Cunliffe recommended Ofwat be scrapped More

Today’s workers are at a greater risk of poverty in old age than their parents, experts warned, as the UK looks to revive a government body to tackle the crisis.People looking to retire in 2050 are on course to receive £800 per year less than current pensioners, according to Age UK.The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will resurrect the Pensions Commission, which last met in 2006, to “tackle the barriers that stop too many from saving in the first place”.At least 45 per cent of working-age adults are putting nothing into their pensions, work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall said.The previous commission recommended automatically enrolling people in workplace pensions, which has seen the number of eligible employees saving rise from 55 per cent in 2012 to 88 per cent.At least 45 per cent of working-age adults are putting nothing into their pensions, work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall said More

Customers will be given stronger protections against water firms under government plans to restore trust in the beleaguered industry. Steve Reed is setting up a new water ombudsman with legal powers to resolve disputes, rather than the current voluntary system that is thought to lack teeth.The environment secretary is embarking on “the biggest overhaul of water regulation in a generation” amid growing anger at poor service, spiralling bills and the pollution of Britain’s waterways. He pledged on Sunday to cut pollution in Britain’s rivers in half by the end of the decade, eliminating it completely by 2035. And on Monday he will outline the latest changes, which will expand the role of the Consumer Council for Water (CCW), bringing the sector into line with other utilities by creating a legally binding consumer watchdog.Consumers will get stronger protections against water firms says Steve Reed More

The defence secretary will call for a 50-day drive to arm Ukraine when he chairs a meeting of Kyiv’s allies on Monday.John Healey is set to argue that the West should again boost its military support for Ukraine in an effort to bring Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.Donald Trump has already threatened to impose “very severe” tariffs on Russia if it does not agree to a ceasefire by 2 September, 50 days on from the US president’s announcement that he would sell “top-of-the-line” weapons to Nato that could then be given to Ukraine.On Monday, Mr Healey will use a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG) to back Mr Trump’s proposal and pledge that the UK will “play our full part in its success to bolster Ukraine’s immediate fight”.Calling for more support from Western allies, he is expected to say: “Alongside this, the US has started the clock on a 50-day deadline for Putin to agree to peace or face crippling economic sanctions.“As members of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, we need to step up in turn with a ‘50-day drive’ to arm Ukraine on the battlefield and force Putin to the negotiating table.”US president Donald Trump and Russia’s president Vladimir Putin are seen during the G20 leaders summit in 2018 More